Downfall
by RiapsedEndOf
Summary: The alternates live in a realm created within Izaya's own head. A new reality created, the alternates who live there go about their daily lives as normal. However, Izaya has been showing up less and less, and strange things are occurring in the realm of the alternates. Has something gone wrong? A short story from Roppi's pov. All of the alternates are 'major' characters.
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome! I'm actually more proud of this story than I am of _Disorder_ , so I hope you enjoy~**

* * *

 _Downfall._

Izaya hadn't come back in a while. I hadn't seen him in months, and I was happy for that. I hated him anyway… Good riddance. I knew Tsuki was glad too, even though he didn't say so. Izaya's presence had always brought me lower than I need to be, and Tsuki hated when I was low… Too bad Izaya would be coming back soon. Everyone knew it. He'd disappear for awhile, but he'd always come back, for however little time he stayed.

He didn't belong in my reality anyway; he was just the creator of my filthy world… I almost felt bad for the godforsaken humans in _his_ world that had to deal with him. Almost. I carried too little empathy, too much apathy. I hated humans anyway, in stark contrast to my creator.

Izaya made us a long time ago…not just Tsuki and I. In his dreams he fabricated Psyche and Delic; Tsugaru and Sakuraya; Hibiya and Shitsuo; Virus-138 and Psy-420… Each of us had similar faces in respect to who we were based upon, whether it be Izaya himself or some guy he referred to as 'Shizu-chan'…

I remembered now the hazy time before our reality had taken form and it was only the ten of us in our blank world. Hell, I was beginning to remember the time before Tsuki was existent and I was all alone in my own section of our inchoate reality. Oddly enough, we were only just beginning to remember these times, as if they'd been erased from our minds as a prologue to our true existence. We all knew we were made by Izaya, but rarely did we interact with every other creation ever since we were given pasts and lives to live. Since our world had been prepared for us to live in…

I never interacted with the other pairs' sections of our world, so the times we'd seen each other seemed few and far between… Never had I met Virus, Psy, or Sakuraya since our prologue, and I didn't know they existed until these memories began to come to light.

I found it pretty weird, then, when I found a letter waiting in my mailbox, crudely-drawn pink flowers colored childishly on the envelope. I couldn't help but be skeptical, and nearly threw the thing right out. Maybe it was just plain curiosity, but I looked at the note inside. It was from Psyche, which was even weirder considering I hadn't seen him in awhile and he knew I didn't like being around him – or anyone. He called it being grumpy; others called it misanthropy… It didn't really matter anyway.

It was an 'urgent' letter inviting Tsuki and I to Hibiya's palace to meet with our alternative selves to talk about something. It included the date and time and whatever other important information there was, almost as if it was an invitation to some kind of party. The letter reiterated it was important to come before ending with a smiley face and a signing of Psyche's name. I glared at the paper irately and tossed it in the trash. To me, Psyche was just annoying and childish… Whenever I was actually around him, I just wanted him to shut up. Then Hibiya…a prince, and someone I'd rather not deal with. I hated him almost as much as I hated Izaya himself, and the feeling was mutual between us.

Prideful piece of shit.

Anyway, I wasn't going. If Tsuki got a letter too, then he could go if he really wanted. I wasn't, though. Whatever it was that was important, Tsuki could relay it back to me if it really mattered so much… Knowing Psyche, it was probably something stupid like a secret surprise birthday for Delic or Tsugaru. I think he was closest to them, right? Whatever.

I was sitting in my room right then, and I had no intention of doing anything today. I wasn't sure if Tsuki would be coming over to visit my small apartment, and whether he did or didn't appear was just as well. I didn't care…

Sighing lightly, I closed my eyes. I wasn't too low today, and it was actually pretty nice. My 'normal' was pretty self-loathing, hateful, and pathetic. This was my 'happy': irritable, hateful, and a little less self-loathing, I guess. Still negative. Sometimes Tsuki could get me there to this place where I could smile without bitterness, but right now I had gotten there on my own. Maybe it was just a good day… I turned my head and looked at the clock. Whatever. No matter the case, I'd end up falling again at some point. I thought it was safe to say at that point that I'd never fully heal from the scars that were etched in my cold, hateful heart.

I gazed at the ceiling with bored, dull eyes. Maybe I'd actually go out today…get some tea and stand on that bridge Tsuki and I always went to; alone if Tsuki really didn't come to visit today. My mind wandering to nowhere in particular, time passed as I sat there, leaning on the head of the bed. A soft knocking on my door permeated my thoughts and I returned to reality to look at the door. Sighing, I swung my feet off the bed and stood, walking unenthusiastically to the door to open it for my only friend. Tsuki was waiting behind it, and he blinked at me once the door was open. A small, awkward smile curved his mouth. "U-um, hi, Roppi. How are you?"

"Fine…" I paused, contemplating, my gaze drifting towards my shoes for a moment.

"U-uh, do you…do you w-want to go and…?" I started slipping on my shoes before he could finish, and he stopped talking, just waited and watched. He stepped aside as I walked out the door and closed it behind me, pausing to lock it. He didn't say anything as I led the way down the hall to head outside, eventually leading him to the small café where we always got our whatevers, whether it was warm drinks or a small something to eat. Tsuki walked behind me, following like some obedient puppy. Sometimes that annoyed me a little, but for now it was fine; it wasn't like I'd let him lead the way anyway. Even though we'd been the café hundreds of times, I wouldn't have been surprised if he got us lost.

We got there pretty quickly; he asked me if I was hungry and I muttered that I wouldn't mind something to eat. He awkwardly ordered food, coffee, and tea – tea for me and coffee for him. While he did that I slid into one of the booths for a table by the window in the corner. I was gazing out of it when he came back with everything. He handed me my pastry and my tea, and for a moment or two we sat in silence while I put sugar in my tea and he took a tentative bite of his food.

"S…so…" he began, "…d-did you…get a letter too?…" He shifted as he spoke, as if it was a topic I wouldn't like. And of course I knew which letter he was talking about: the one I just mentioned; the one from Psyche.

"Yeah," I answered bluntly. "I threw it out. I'm not going."

He tugged uncomfortably at his beige scarf, eyes red as mine flickering behind the glass of his spectacles. "W-well…maybe…we should go…," he suggested quietly, not making eye contact. "I—I know you don't w-want to, but—but I feel like m-maybe it really is imp-important…"

I cradled my head with my hand, leaning my elbow on the table. I gazed dully at him while I stirred the sugar into my tea. "Why do you think that?"

"W-well…Tsugaru was the one who mentioned we should all get together in the first place… Um… A-and we've never all been called together before… M-maybe…it's actually something we should know about…"

"How do you know this was Tsugaru's idea?" I asked without interest and sipped at my tea. It needed more sugar; damn it.

"U-um, Psyche mentioned that it was his idea in—in my letter. He…he said that Tsugaru thought you wouldn't want to come…s-so…he told me to try and convince you…"

I paused in ripping a bag of sugar open, then continued. "Why Hibiya's castle, do you think?" My voice was flat.

"U-um, I—I don't know," he responded. He knew Hibiya and I didn't like each other in the least. "M-maybe just because it has—has the most room, and…and, u-um, maybe Delic was able to convince Hibiya to—to have everyone over…"

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, I'm sure it was Delic who convinced him to let it happen." There was a pause, and I sighed.

"W-will you go, maybe?…"

I looked at him with a frown, then pinched the bridge of my nose, closing my eyes. "When is it happening again…?"

"Um, t-tomorrow…"

"…" I started eating my pastry, considering it. There was no question that I didn't want to go, but there was also the point that maybe, just maybe, there was a purpose that made it worth going. "What do you think is so important about it?"

He blinked, bemused for a second. "Oh, um…I…I'm not sure… D-do you think maybe it has to do with…with Izaya?… Or…"

I shrugged. "I don't know, and I don't care…"

Tsuki bit his lip. "B-but…what if…?"

He couldn't finish before I cut him off. Honestly, he hesitated too much sometimes. "I'll go, though," I grudgingly accepted. "Just not long. And if something _stupid_ happens, or someone gets too much on my nerves, I'm leaving…"

Tsuki brightened. "Oh! That's fine; I—I'm glad you're coming!" I gave a noncommittal grunt in response. Oh well… Turns out I was going tomorrow. How annoying.

* * *

 **I hope you liked the first chapter~ This is a short story like _Disorder_ was, but it will be a bit longer.**

 **Also, if anyone can come up with a better title than 'Downfall,' do let me know =7=**

 **My first _DRRR!_ one-shot I put up on here, _Birth,_ was referenced in this chapter also~**

 **Reviews are welcome; feedback is fantastic!**


	2. Chapter 2

We ended up being late because of Tsuki – of course. Go figure. It took awhile to get to the kingdom, though it was relatively easy to find the castle once we were near enough to see the palace in all its golden glory. Even the gate was painted gold.

…It irritated me.

Well, at least we weren't the only ones late. There was a guy also waiting to be let inside the gate, too. His eyes were red like ours were, and he must have been based upon Izaya's existence because he had the same face as me and our creator… Same as Psyche and Hibiya. I thought I might have remembered him vaguely from the prologue to our existence, but I couldn't remember who he was. He was wearing a dress shirt with sleeves that only went down to his elbows, plus a black vest with a red bow that was only half-tied. Red headphones adorned his head, and his socks were red-striped. So far, he just seemed abnormal to me. Something was definitely off about his eyes.

"U-um…h-hello…," Tsuki greeted awkwardly, shifting on his feet. At least I could see why he was uncomfortable; this guy was peering at us curiously, without blinking, without so much as saying a word. Of course, I wasn't really fazed.

Upon Tsuki's words, the stranger grinned, revealing a line of sharply-pointed teeth. "Hello," he returned. "Shizuo Tsukishima and Izaya Hachimenroppi?" he inquired, tilting his head.

Tsuki straightened at that, unable to respond.

I furrowed my brow. So he knew our names already? "Yeah…that's right," I confirmed, and he straightened up and clapped his gloved hands. Weird and annoying, but knowledgeable. Possibly dangerous. Great.

"Ha!" he barked out a laugh and seemed to glitch, like he didn't actually belong in existence. It came to me who he must be, then. " _I_ , then, am Virus-138, pleased to meetchya!" Virus beamed. "I wonder who else came – maybe everyone did and it'll be like a happy, homey family reunion!" He burst into laughter again. His speech was odd; every _s_ sound seemed to be stressed. "It's funny because I hate all of you," he seemed to giggle, and Tsuki glanced at me nervously. I was just gazing at Virus with a cold stare. _Well, fuck you too, Virus. I hate pretty much everyone here, right along with you._

The gate opened, then, and we all looked to see a blond man with the same hairstyle as Tsuki – just with a part of his hair pulled back to the side – dressed as a butler. That would be Shitsuo. He bowed in greeting, and Tsuki awkwardly bowed in turn. "Welcome," he said, and my friend stuttered a thank you. Virus and I didn't bother to do anything.

"So we're taking that carriage to the castle?" Virus inquired, peering past the now-open gate to see a carriage waiting for us. I wished he'd stop speaking with any s sounds. His accent or whatever was really pissing me off, even if it was for no reason. Whatever.

I looked to the carriage; Shitsuo told us that was where we were to go, and so he led us to step in the carriage in order to ride to the actual castle. I was honestly annoyed with all this. No wonder Hibiya was such a prissy asshole. I watched the castle yard pass by slowly as Shitsuo acted as the carriage driver and we the three visitors sat in the actual carriage. The horses leading us were both white, and judging by the conversation Tsuki was trying to have with Shitsuo, their names were Arthur and Alfred. As if I cared. Eventually the conversation petered out (it couldn't really be spurred in the first place) and Tsuki got quiet. I was personally annoyed with Virus, who was kneeling on the front seat backwards in order to stare with his off eyes to exactly where we were headed. I swear, that guy was like a kid… Unpredictable. How annoying.

Eventually we got out of the carriage and followed Shitsuo up the stairs to the actual castle, where we had to follow him to the room designated for our meeting… I swear to god, Tsuki wouldn't be able to walk a few steps in this place alone without being lost… I frowned. At this rate, if I wanted to leave early, even I wouldn't be able to easily find my way out. What the fuck… This was just getting really irritating. _This better be for something good._

We reached the room, and Shitsuo closed the large doors behind us. Who needs that large of doors anyway? Why were they so big? There's no point! _God damn it, maybe I should leave now…_

" _Heyyy_ , Roppi! Long time no see~" came a low, 'charming' voice coming from another blond Tsuki look-alike. This one was clad in all white with a black tie, pink shirt, and pink headphones. My face scrunched in disgust at his voice.

"Shut up, Delic…," was my none-too-thrilled response.

"Roppi!" Psyche cried in delight, already on his feet and running over to me. He had my features, true, but an extreme contrast in personality. He, too, wore all white, though his jacket had white trim and pink buttons, not to mention his also-pink headphones. These two really liked _pink_ , and I could never understand _why_. "You came after all!" Psyche beamed and pounced on me in a hug, much to my horror. "Tsu said you wouldn't come, but I knew you would! I'm so glad you're _here_!" He started going on and on and he wouldn't _shut up_ …

I eventually ignored him and looked over to the table everyone was sitting at. Of course Hibiya was at the head; Shitsuo was standing just behind him. The bastard was of course clad in his fancy clothes, golden cape draped over his shoulders and his crown sitting atop his head. Our eyes met, and he smirked at me. "Oh, so you came after all, Scum," he greeted, his voice carrying through the room. Psyche quieted, but I only glared at the prince.

"U-uh—um—" Tsuki's eyes flicked back and forth between us; he didn't know what to do.

"Plus…" Virus said, poking his head out from behind Tsuki and I to show his face, " _I_ came!" he beamed.

Another blond man immediately jumped to his feet; his chair fell with a clatter to the floor. He had a neon green tie and the same color of shades over his eyes, as well as neon green headphones. " _It's you!_ " he exclaimed, and whipped out a gun. "I KNEW YOU'D COME!"

"Uh-oh!" Virus pranced away from us and turned to pull out his own gun. Both were staring each other down, each with their gun pointed at the other. The blond man's face was twisted in rage, and Virus was merely grinning his sharp-teethed smile, an insane glint in his eyes. I could only stare; it happened pretty quickly… Tsuki was completely overwhelmed, I'm sure. "Psy is angry~"

"Wahhh!" Psyche cried, jumping between the two. "No, don't hurt each oth—"

" _Get out of the way!_ " Psy snapped, jerking his arm and shooting the ceiling. Psyche jumped, looking terrified.

"Well, this is starting out great…," I muttered.

"If either of you shoot your guns, you will be arrested!" Hibiya interjected upon their argument, but they didn't seem to care. "Shitsuo, _stop them_."

Shitsuo bowed, but two people had already jumped for both Psy and Virus, one in a blue and white kimono, and the other in a pink and white kimono. The blond in the blue, Tsugaru, kicked the gun from Psy's hand, much to Psy's chagrin. The black-haired one in the pink and white, presumably Sakuraya, grabbed at Virus's wrist and put his other hand over the barrel of the gun. He smiled gently and told Virus to stop, and Virus snatched his gun back to put it away.

"What the hell?!" Psy snapped, ready to stalk over to Virus and destroy him with his bare hands. Tsugaru, however, stopped him.

"Sit," Tsugaru commanded lowly, and placed Psy firmly in his seat.

Psy proceeded to give Virus a very dirty look as he pranced to an empty seat, glitching. He curled up on said seat to wait.

I looked at Tsuki, and he looked nervously back at me. I shrugged and brushed past him to sit in the nearest empty seat, next to Tsugaru just as the traditionally-dressed man sat beside Psy, keeping an eye on him to probably make sure he wouldn't get violent again. The seat to my left was still open, but much to my annoyance, Psyche sat beside me happily. Eyes irate and dull, I leaned my elbow on the table and rested my chin on my hand. Poor Tsuki faltered and backpedaled to head to the other side of the table, having thought he'd sit next to me. My friend ended up stuck between Delic and Sakuraya, both pink-wearers. I almost held sympathy that he was next to Delic, but I was too preoccupied with my annoyance of Psyche's presence.

"I'm glad you came, Hachimenroppi-san," Tsugaru spoke calmly as he pulled his pipe from his kimono to smoke.

"Whatever…" I responded. I digressed. I really didn't want to be here.

"It looks like everyone came after all," Hibiya said, his mouth twitching as he looked around at all of us with disdain.

"All ten of us are here!" Psyche piped up excitedly. "I'm so glad all of you came!"

I looked around at the people at the table. Well, there were, in fact, ten of us here. I was actually mildly surprised about it. Then I remembered I didn't care.

As I looked around I noticed that Sakuraya had also sat back down, smiling with a pure, innocent smile I didn't see too often on humans. I could only think that it would have to be tainted someday. The kid was probably naïve and annoyingly ignorant… Delic was leaning in towards Tsuki with his hand cupping the side of his mouth, as if he were muttering a secret. I watched with disinterest as Tsuki went redder and redder in the face before abruptly turning to Delic and shaking his head quickly. Delic laughed quietly.

" _Delic_ ," Hibiya hissed, and he tried to stop snickering. "You ill-bred lout, _shut up_."

"Can someone just explain what we're here for?" Psy asked bitterly, ever glaring at Virus.

"It has to do with Izaya, I think," said Virus, ever grinning in return.

I watched the scene unfold dully.

"Does it? Someone, do please enlighten us." Hibiya gestured for someone to speak.

Tsugaru, beside me, stood. "The flow of this world has been disrupted," he spoke, projecting his low and calm voice. "Something is very wrong."

"Like what?" asked Delic blankly.

" _You_ should be what's wrong here, Delic; _be quiet_ , will you?" Hibiya snapped.

"I can talk if I want, 'Prince Charming,'" Delic grinned, and Hibiya stared him in awed disgust. I just raised my eyebrows.

"I am _Prince Hibiya_ ; say my name right or don't say it at all, hopeless git."

"Well, I can always be Prince Charming, and you could be my princess~"

"No!"

"Ah, bu—" the charmer was cut off as his face was shoved in the table, his arm twisted behind him at the same time by Shitsuo.

"Please continue, Tsugaru-san," Shitsuo spoke calmly, ignoring Delic's clipped noises of pain. Shitsuo was smiling pleasantly.

"H—hey—" Delic tried to protest, but Shitsuo twisted his arm further, shoving his face harder into the table. His features were squashed to the point he looked ridiculous and idiotic, with pursed, fish-like lips and one eye shut. Tsuki was looking at him with blank eyes, blinking. Then he looked back to Tsugaru as the speaker cleared his throat.

"This is the first time since the beginning of our existence in which we have all come together in meeting," Tsugaru said, and I looked at him uninterestedly. "I'm sure every one of you has begun to remember our time before our world was made…" I could see Tsuki looking at me out of the corner of my eye; we had just begun to remember that; Tsugaru was right. I noticed Shitsuo giving a small nod, and I thought I heard Psy muttering something along the lines of realization or agreement. Looking around, Tsugaru seemed to determine that his assumption was correct judging by the reactions to his words.

"As I said," he continued, "something is off. I did sense something, but it didn't really come to light until the river that flows nearby the residences of Sakuraya and I simply stopped flowing. I understand how little change it may seem to you, who all live either in royal castles or in cities, but it is an abnormality that should not naturally occur."

"Maybe someone built a dam?" suggested Psyche blankly, but Tsugaru shook his head.

"No dam construction has been going on along that river. Tell me, has anyone else here experienced any abnormalities in their daily lives?"

There was a pause, and I saw a few people looking around at everyone. Then, "…Traffic," Psy spoke up in an irate tone. "The traffic's been terrible lately, and machinery in general has been acting up. Communication devices going dead, computers freezing up constantly…"

"Ohh, yeah, the recording studio has been messing up too!" Psyche exclaimed in realization. "And our manager has been acting kinda funny…"

"Yer," came Delic's distorted add-on to Psyche's statement. "He's bern shnapping fer no reashon."

"It makes him kinda mean," Psyche frowned, furrowing his brow and almost pouting, looking like some kind of kid. Then, again, he always looks like a kid. And acts like it. Annoyingly so.

"Hmm, electronics are definitely acting up," Virus spoke up with a glitch.

 _Do you count as an electronic?_ I thought dully. _You're pretty screwed up too…_

"And everything's becoming stagnant, people-wise," he added, and I got slightly more irritated with every s. "Information is less protected and less hidden, even the juicy stuff—plus there are less and less interesting things going on."

Psy was growling in irritation.

"U-um…text messages and—and letters," Tsuki came in. "I know that I—I've sent letters and they—they won't reach where they should go or—or text messages won't send right…o-or even j-just parts of the message will, um, go through…"

"Wow," Psyche yelped, "I'm glad my invitations sent, then. Good thing they did!"

"Also, Prince Hibiya…," Sakuraya's voice was soft. Hibiya looked at him. "I'm not completely sure you know of my occupation, but I often help in the castle gardens along with Tsugaru…"

"Of course," Hibiya sniffed. "I know the names of every employee in this palace."

Sakuraya smiled. "I don't doubt it. Well, the people who work for you have been uneasy lately…"

Tsugaru nodded. "Thank you, Sakuraya." He turned to address the prissy, prideful prince I so loathed. "I've noticed your workers have been becoming restless lately, and I thought it best you know of their dissatisfaction. That, too, is unusual, but…"

"Are you suggesting they may plan for some form of rebellion against me?" the prince returned, eyes narrowing and mouth curling slightly. He wasn't happy with the suggestion. "If so, let them _try_. I am superior to them, and they will end drowning in pitiful defeat. If they do rebel, it will be stamped out." His tone was firm. I couldn't help but glare hatefully at him in his smug overconfidence.

"I mean no disrespect," Tsugaru said with a small bow. "I mean only to inform you of this and point out this as another disturbance in our lives. Something unnatural is going on, and it is affecting all of us."

"What does that have to do with remembering being made?" I inquired dully. I hadn't been talking much, but then, I didn't _want_ to.

Tsugaru smiled. "That is exactly the connection we need to make."

"I bet I have an idea of what happened," Virus grinned.

"And what's that?" Hibiya asked him flatly, obviously disbelieving and unimpressed with Virus in general.

"Well, something _bad_ is happening with Izaya, I bet, I bet!" He grinned wider, showing off those inhumanly sharp teeth.

"Wahhh?!" Psyche cried, taken aback. I grimaced at his sudden loud outcry, right next to me. "You mean something bad might have happened to Izaya-san? Really? That's terrible!" he wailed.

Delic worked to lift his head slightly. "Something happened to Izaya? You think so?"

"Our creator; huh…," came Psy's low voice.

"I hope he's dead," I said in a toneless undertone, not meaning anyone to hear. Figured that Psyche had to hear me anyway, responding with an immediate gasp and an incredulous stare.

"Roppi-san, why would you _say_ something like that?!" Psyche cried, obviously distressed. "Izaya-san is the best person ever, right along with Tsu and Deli!"

I rolled my eyes. "Not really."

Virus cackled. "He's better off dead!"

"I liked Izaya…," Sakuraya's soft-spoken voice came through, seeming confused that anyone would dislike Izaya in the first place.

"It _is_ true that Izaya-san has given us our lives to live…," Tsugaru conceded.

 _As if I ever wanted to exist anyway,_ I thought bitterly. _What a life_ he _gave me._

"I must also admit I do not agree with many of his ideas or actions," Tsugaru added, frowning ever so slightly. "I am neither for nor against him, but no matter the case, we should care for his existence not only as a fellow human being or as our creator, but also because his wellbeing or lack thereof can and will affect us and our daily lives."

Sakuraya nodded silently.

"So you're saying if our creator doesn't get his shit together we're doomed?" asked Psy, voice harsh. "Is that what you're saying?"

"Well, essentially, that is possible…," Tsugaru agreed with a slight frown.

So something negative was going on with Izaya… I closed my eyes, tuning out of everyone's conversation. I could only think that it was karma finally getting him back for the disgusting deeds he'd dealt. A manipulator and a man who laughed even as he watched one of his oh-so-beloved humans commit suicide… He was disgusting, just like every other human on the planet. I hated him to his very core, no matter what may have laid beneath his outer masks. He knew what he did was terrible, and yet he didn't stop; therefore, he deserved no sympathy even if there was something that may have called for it.

Honestly, I didn't care if it meant every one of our existences winking out, so long as it meant Izaya was dead. I wouldn't mind making everyone here suffer inconveniences or any other bad thing so long as it meant Izaya was suffering. Hell, I didn't care if it only took my own life – it's not like I cared to be alive anyway… To be completely honest, I was hoping something had gone terribly wrong with Izaya Orihara. I was _hoping_ for it. Maybe it was hypocritical or cruel of me, but I didn't care…

"Tell me, has anyone here seen Izaya in the past few months?" Tsugaru inquired of all of us as I tuned back in. There was silence. Well, no, I hadn't seen him. And I was glad. Couldn't we just leave it at that?

"…Well, sometimes he leaves for a long time, but he always comes back," Psyche persisted, not wanting to believe something had happened to his 'father.'

"Not away from every one of us, and not for this long," Tsugaru responded.

"And how are we supposed to do anything about such a predicament?" Hibiya demanded of him. "We're not even a part of the same reality; Izaya comes when he comes, and leaves when he leaves. There is absolutely no way we could influence the situation." He crossed his arms.

"We cannot stop the situation from happening," Tsugaru admitted. "However, I believe we should all keep in touch with one another, in such a way that every one of us could contact any other of this group."

I frowned. Contact with humans? No thank you…

"Hey, that sounds pretty fun!" Psyche said brightly, and I winced. This was exactly why I didn't see them that often…

"So, I get all of your numbers?" Delic, who had been released by Shitsuo, asked everyone with a teasing kind of hopefulness. "Hey, Hibiya—" His chair tipped beneath him due to a kick from Shitsuo, and he toppled to the floor. Tsuki jumped in surprise. I noticed Hibiya smirking and hiding laughter at Delic's fall. "What the hell?! Shitsuo, will you stop?!"

"Not unless my master commands me," Shitsuo smiled with cold sweetness. Delic was grumbling something under his breath as he put his chair back up to sit again.

I looked up at the high ceiling, eyes deadpan. _Why_ was everyone here so irritating… Wait…everyone irritates me. That must be why. Ha…

"So what are we doing to keep in touch?" asked Psy, annoyed.

"Oh!" Psyche explained, jumping to his feet. "I made cards with everyone's number on them! Tsu and Sakuraya helped," he grinned, taking cards out from the pocket of his white jacket. "Umm, here; have one, Hibi," he said, handing one to him and then handing the rest to me. Frowning, I took one and slid the rest of the small squares to Tsugaru.

"Psyche, don't call me Hibi," Hibiya warned, tone dark but polite.

"Oh, right. Is Hibi-chan okay?" Psyche asked him brightly.

"No! Call me Hibiya- _sama_ , if you're using suffixes like that!"

"How about using _chama_?" Psyche was so happy about it.

"What the hell kind of fool's honorific is that?" Hibiya spat.

"It's a mix between chan and sama!"

Hibiya glowered at him.

I couldn't help but smile slightly at Hibiya's irritation. That moment right there was the best part of the meeting for me. Maybe Psyche wasn't so bad after all, so long as he could piss off Hibiya.

* * *

 **This shall be updated on Wednesdays from here on. uvu**

 **Reviews are appreciated~**


	3. Chapter 3

We were told to tell everyone else if something odd or negative happened, and also to not lose touch with any other of the alternates in order to be cautious of any consequence that may come of whatever was going on with Izaya. The thought made me roll my eyes. Really, I couldn't possibly care _less_ about Izaya… The only thought of him that occurred to me was a vague musing; a morbid curiosity of what was wrong and hoping it was something terrible. Cruel of me? Maybe. But I never said I was 'nice'… Izaya deserved it anyway.

Tsuki led us to some place or another to eat lunch (I didn't want to eat at Hibiya's castle), and after that we headed back to our city in order to return to our respective homes. He lived in a different part of the city than I did, so I told him he didn't have to take me home. He hesitated, and then we said our goodbyes and parted ways. I continued listening to music and tuning the world out (as I had been tuning Tsuki out along with all of the other wretched humans we were stuck with on the public transportation we used to get back here…). Eventually I reached my small apartment, where I pulled my key out, unlocked the door, and got inside, closing the door behind me with sigh. Thank god the day was finally done…

A knock sounded behind me. "Who the _fuck_ is knocking on my door…?" I growled, turning around and opening the door again with an irritable expression. I found that Virus guy grinning on the other side. And then I closed the door again to head inside. I didn't feel like dealing with him.

The knocking started up again. "Heyyy, it's rude to lock someone out!" his voice was muffled from behind the door, but I could still hear those prominent s sounds.

Bristling, I opened the door again. " _What the hell do you want?_ " I snapped.

He stepped inside without answer, looking around in interest at my small apartment space.

"What do you think you're doing?" I asked coldly. " _Get out of my house._ "

"Oh, wow, what happened to the mirror?" he asked as he peered into the bathroom. I'd smashed the mirror one evening when I was in the low…I ended up with a sliced arm, but that's another story.

"None of your business," I answered through clenched teeth, coming up behind him and gripping him by the collar. He squirmed away and skittered over to my bed in the corner, parallel to the living room. He poked and prodded at the few items on my bedside table, one of which hadn't been disposed of—

"Oh, so you _do_ self-harm!"

I grabbed at his collar again, gripping harder this time and jerking him backwards. " _Get the fuck out of my house_ ," I hissed in his ear, and began dragging him over to the door.

"No, no, no, wait!" he wailed. "I'm trying to be niiice!"

"How the hell is that nice? You're a fucking _liar_."

"Ah! Hey, we're all supposed to keep in touch, why not be allies? We both hate Izaya, right?"

"You're insane," I responded dismissively, sighing sharply as I dropped him in front of my doorway.

He spun around to face me, still sitting. "Who, me? Crazy? Fuck you! I'm not crazy!" he snapped, and his image glitched, sending him into hysterical laughter.

"You have some serious problems," I said dully.

" _You_ have problems," he shot back, echoing my words like a little kid. I frowned deeper than I already was. Then he grinned. "So we're even!"

I rolled my eyes. "Get out. Now."

"But I was serious about that; don't you think it's a good idea to have someone on your side against Izaya? Huh?"

"I have Tsuki," I answered flatly. "That's all I need."

"Psyche and Sakuraya and Delic all like Izaya," Virus pointed out. "Hibiya and Psy and Shitsuo and Tsugaru are neutral. Well, I mean Psy hates Izaya but he also hates me. So. My point is, the more on our side the better."

"How did you even know where I live?" I retorted, crossing my arms.

"Internet."

I furrowed my brow. "What?"

"Internet. That and I followed you home."

I stared at him in annoyed disbelief. "What the fuck is _wrong_ with you?"

"Lotsa stuff," Virus grinned. "Izaya never finished making me." As if to prove his point, he glitched again.

"That explains a lot," I said dully, eyes narrowing.

"I'm not a threat though. Unless I think _you're_ a threat. So I wouldn't take out that switchblade of yours even if I pulled out my gun~"

I frowned at him. I wasn't even going to ask how he knew I had a switchblade in my pocket. "What do you want?" My voice was toneless at this point. It didn't even sound like a question.

"Well, for us to be on the same side," he explained simply, grinning still.

"Fine," I accepted flatly. "But we're not friends. Now get out of my house."

"Don't worry, I don't want you as a _friend_ ," he scoffed. "I have _no_ friends" – _I wonder why_ – "and I don't _want_ any. My life is a war; me against the world, and _you_ are a part of this world, right? _You_ are a _human_."

My lip curled in disgust. Yeah, I was a human…and I hated it. "I hate everyone too. Including you."

"And you?"

"Yes, I hate me too," I scowled. "Satisfied? Get out."

"Wow! We both hate everyone. Maybe we could be _acquaintances_."

"No."

"Say, since I'm here, maybe we could go to McDonald's to discuss our alliance; learn about who's on our side~"

"No," I frowned. This guy was really pissing me off… At least I was getting used to his hissing speech.

"Why _not_? McDonald's is great!" he cried.

"It's more _you_ that's the problem," I scowled. "And I don't really eat fast food anyway."

He gasped, glitching in the process. "Terrible! How dare you." Suddenly his expression was all seriousness.

I gazed with slightly narrowed, dull eyes in response. Was he seriously bothered about my dislike of McDonald's, of all things? He really was crazy… I wanted him out of my house. And if he was waiting for some kind of apology, I wasn't giving him one.

Heaving a hissing sigh, he stood and began walking past me, back further into my apartment. I stopped him with a shove to the chest. "Where do you think you're going?" I asked, glowering.

He slipped beneath my arm swiftly. "Well, we'll talk here instead, of course!" he seemed to grin, and he was back to normal. Well, his normal. Which wasn't normal at all.

"If we talk for a few minutes, will you leave my house?" I bit out.

"Sure; all you have to do is ask~"

I stared with a deadpan expression. Was he serious? I'd told him to leave how many times now? "What do you even want to talk about?" I asked him, none-too-friendly.

" _Welll_ , I know most everything about _you_ already," he told me as he sat facing my bed. He pointed at my sleeping place. "You can sit there."

Furrowing my brow, I crossed my arms where I was at the foot of my bed. I wasn't moving.

"Or not." He paused to get himself settled into his seat on the ground. "So, I know your mother was a drug addict, you dropped out of school junior year of high school, you're a depressive but you don't take medication, you and your friend were involved in some kind of incident that involved a fight and a boy's possible murder…"

"What do you think you're doing?" I cut in, recovering from my initial shock that he'd know this stuff, let alone just say it like that.

"Did you know your friend killed someone in middle school?"

" _Shut up for a second!_ " I snapped. "What the hell are you getting at and how the _fuck_ do you know this?"

He grinned at me with those sharp teeth. "See, Psyche, Izaya's first creation; what was he based on? Izaya's childishness; his happiness. Hibiya is his pride and arrogance over other humans. Sakuraya is his soft spot; his gentleness. And _I_ am branched from Izaya's love of gathering information. It disgusts me that I get it from him, but it's an obsession of mine. And I use it against him, anyway. Maybe you can just hate him quietly and let him get to you, but I do my best to fight back."

"Who are you to judge that?!" I practically shouted; he'd hit a sore spot.

"I'm Virus," he answered easily, still grinning. "And you're Roppi. Say, what do you think you're branched from?"

I stared at him, eyes dark and cold and loathsome. "…I come from his hidden negative feelings…. I guess mostly bitterness."

"And maso-sadism?"

"Sure," I uttered, looking away irately.

"Now that alone can tell us a lot about him, don't you think? And if any one of us loses that main trait, we know that there is _definitely_ something wrong." He laughed slightly with a hitch.

 _There's_ definitely _something wrong with_ you _,_ I thought bitterly.

"Say, since I know everything about you, maybe I should say a few things about me so we're even." I looked coldly at him, expectant. "Psy is a cop. He doesn't like me. I've been shot in the head exactly 547 times." He looked at my stare, and grinned again. "I can't die. I'm a virus."

"Oh." _Great._

"Because Izaya didn't finish me, I'm incomplete; a glitch. _But_ it means I can't die~ Psy will never catch me alive, either!" he cried, and laughed. "I don't do anything _bad_ , anyway," he sniffed once he was finished with his cackling. "I just look for information… And hack into things maybe I shouldn't be allowed to look at. Oh well." He shrugged it off. "Psy and I are from the major-est city northwest of here; it's very high-tech and _futuristic._ Hmm, what else? I forget. Oh well." He smiled again.

"…" I frowned. "Well now we know a lot about each other," I said, voice hard even though I was trying hard to keep my voice level and calm. If I yelled or snapped again, maybe he wouldn't leave. "Would it be alright if you were to leave? I'm not hungry, but there's a McDonald's two blocks from here."

His face lit up. "Wow, really?! How exciting. It was nice making this alliance with you." He stood and held out his hand to me. I looked at it. "For confirmation? You and I are a team; plus Tsukishima."

My eyes narrowed as I shook his hand. "Sure."

"Here's to hating Izaya." He grinned a closed-eye smile before releasing my hand and walking happily for the door. At least he was finally leaving…

The door opened, he walked out, and the door was half-closed behind him when I heard a gunshot.

"…What the fuck…" I walked to the door and opened it to find Virus lying on the ground with his red eyes and red headphones no longer glowing, staring at the ceiling with that grin still on his face even as blood pooled around his head. His image was hazy as if he were in a permanent, soft glitch. I looked in the opposite direction of the way he'd fallen to find Psy, holding a gun at his side.

"The little shit will wake up in a few seconds," he growled, stepping forward as he cocked his gun and aimed it at Virus.

I watched with flat expression.

Nothing happened.

"…What the fuck…," Psy uttered lowly.

 _My thoughts exactly when I heard a gunshot in the hallway._

"What the _fuck_ ," he repeated, kneeling on one knee and gripping Virus by the collar, lifting him up and shaking his limp body. "What the fuck do you think you're doing, huh?! Wake up! You need to be arrested!"

"Maybe he isn't coming back this time," I suggested monotonously. I was really sick of this.

"He _always_ comes back!"

"I take it you followed me home too?"

"I was following _this_ shit!"

"Right, okay." I glared at the ceiling. Really, really sick of this. There was a ringing sound from my pocket; I irately strode back in my apartment and answered my cell. " _What the fuck is it_ ," I hissed into the speaker.

"Uh—Um—S-sorry—"

Oh, it's Tsuki. Whoops.

Oh well.

"Oh, hi Tsuki," I muttered, pinching the bridge of my nose. "I'm coming over."

"Wha—?"

"Bye." I hung up.

With that, I walked into the hall and locked my door behind me to leave. "Good luck with that, anyway," I said flatly to Psy. "I'm leaving. I don't want to be involved." And then I left.

* * *

 **Sorry about the day-late update, but here we are~ =7=/**

 **Reviews and feedback are much appreciated!~ ^^**


	4. Chapter 4

"S-so…Virus…w-was shot?" Tsuki asked me after I'd explained everything. He set a cup of tea on the table next to the couch I was sitting at, just for me. I watched him set it there. He was like a housemaid or something.

"Yeah. Apparently he can't die because he's a virus, but it didn't look like he was coming back…" I took a sip of my tea while he set his own cup down to sit on his side of the couch.

"Oh… Do you think…it's because of Izaya?"

"You mean Virus not coming back?" I asked dully. "Maybe."

"Mm…" He shifted awkwardly. "M…maybe I should call Tsugaru…t-to let him know…" He paused. "U-um…do you think…that Virus is dead?…"

I shrugged. "I guess we'll eventually find out on the news."

"Y-yeah…"

There was silence for a bit. I looked at Tsuki as I sipped at my tea, then set it down. I looked to his small dining table ahead. "…Tsuki, did you kill someone when you were in middle school?" I asked plainly, incredibly blunt and to-the-point. I doubted Virus would find incorrect information with all he knew about me, but he could have been a liar. Now, Tsuki was no murderer from what I'd seen, but there was one instance where I'd seen him angry. Some guys had been messing with me, and he flipped his shit on them; let me tell you. He ended up sending one of them to the hospital, and he died a day later. We found out it had been a drug overdose from the hospital that killed him, though, so even though my friend could be violent, in my opinion he'd never _severely_ hurt anyone. He was too _nice_ and too _hesitant_. Usually a wimp. Honestly, I thought Virus had lied.

I looked back at Tsuki when I noticed him stiffen in his seat, though. He started trembling. "H—how—"

I stared at him. "Fuck, Tsuki, you actually did?"

"…I-I…I—I'm…s-sorry…," he stammered softly.

Whoa, what the fuck…

His breathing was as shaky as his body was. "I…i-it was an—an ac-accident…" He wasn't looking at me. "B…b-but…"

"What the hell happened?" I inquired, incredulous. There was me, a bitter and suicidal person who dreamt of murdering hated humans… Yet here was my awkward, hesitant, and 'kind-hearted' friend who'd actually gone through and killed someone? What the fuck?

"I-I—he was—he was annoying me and—and I was angry—so—s-so I— Well b-back then I—I d-didn't hesitate s-so much and—and then he—he tried to hurt me and—and I—then I—" He stopped there and put his hands to his face as he started to cry.

"Wh—fuck, don't cry," I got out. Hell, I didn't know what to do. I was the one always lower than him, so this was just _weird_. How was _I_ supposed to reach out to _him_? What the _fuck_? "Well that was self-defense, right? So it's fine."

He nodded silently. I didn't think he believed me.

Glaring at the ceiling, I sighed lightly. Why was all this weird shit happening today?

Eventually he gathered himself up enough to speak, hands still to his face. "S-sorry, Roppi…"

"For what?" I asked flatly, wrapping my head around this new development. I vaguely wondered if there was anything else I didn't know about him… The thought would probably bother me immensely once I was in the low again.

"F-for…" He paused. "For…not telling you…for doing it…and…and for c-crying…"

I rolled my eyes. "It's fine, Tsuki. You really think I care?"

He was quiet. "Y…you're okay with it?" He gave me a kind of scared-but-hopeful look; he reminded me of some kind of puppy or something.

"Sure," I shrugged. "It was for self-defense anyway. You had me thinking you were a cold-blooded killer for a second, just with regrets. A dirty little secret. But no, it was self-defense. You shouldn't feel so bad about it if he was trying to hurt you."

"I-I know…"

"Although," I mused without expression or even much tone, "I don't think I'd really care even if you _were_ a cruel killer that was only getting close to me in order to murder me in the night. Nah, I don't think I'd mind at all."

Tsuki stared at me in horror. "I'd _never_ hurt you, Roppi!" he cried.

I felt myself smiling ever-so-slightly. Not really a smile in my opinion. "I know. God knows _why_ you wouldn't want to."

"W-well, that's because… That's because you're my friend!" he exclaimed.

I only smiled a lopsided smile as I looked at nowhere in particular. "Yeah." He looked at me bemusedly for a moment or two, then laughed weakly, smiling along with me.

* * *

Tsuki called Tsugaru and let him know about Virus's possible death. Tsuki told me that Tsugaru said he would alert all of the others, so neither of us had to do any more calling. I was glad for that, at least. I didn't want to call any one of them, especially if it were someone like Hibiya…or Delic. I didn't really like either of them, though I hated Hibiya far more.

Tsuki asked me when I'd be going home, and I told him that I wouldn't be going back tonight – for all I knew, my doorway had become a crime scene. I wasn't going to deal with police and cameramen and newscasters. Definitely not. So I decided I'd stay on Tsuki's couch. (He offered the bed, in which case _he'd_ sleep on the couch, but I took the couch anyway.) It was a comfortable couch anyhow.

Well that night it took awhile to get to sleep, which is pretty normal for me. It had been a weird and long day, too. Everything was going wrong, wasn't it? All the weird inconveniences we'd discussed, for one…but also, just the fact we'd all gotten together at all was weird. It wasn't normal. Virus probably died today even though since he was supposedly a virus he couldn't die. Not only that, but I'd found out Tsuki's secret today, and he barely hesitated in admitting he'd done it, even though he didn't go into details or anything like that. Maybe it was because we were close, I don't know, but hesitation was what made up who Tsuki was. (Maybe it was killing that guy that caused his hesitant nature; I don't know.) If Tsuki stopped being hesitant any time soon, that'd be as weird as any of us branched from Izaya to lose our main trait.

Oh well… In any case, I eventually drifted to sleep.

The next day was actually rather uneventful, and it was nice. Tsuki made breakfast for both of us, and he said I could stay another night if my apartment was still swarming with people. We found the crowd to have thinned only slightly, so I decidedly slipped in my house only to grab some clothes before slipping back out again without answering any questions pressed on me by reporters. Truth be told, just doing that raised my irritability level by about ninety percent.

The rest of the day went smoothly, though, and passed into the next after I slept again on my friend's couch.

The next day Tsuki got a call from Psyche; he was asking whether he wanted to eat lunch with him today, plus me if I actually wanted to go. I really didn't care, so I grudgingly joined them, rather than staying alone in Tsuki's home. To please me in return for dealing with Psyche, Tsuki asked Psyche if we could go to the café Tsuki and I always go to. It made it a nicer meal.

"S-so…where's Delic?" Tsuki asked Psyche awkwardly, unsure how to start conversation. Psyche seemed oblivious to the awkwardness.

"Oh!" Psyche yelped. "Deli's probably off in the Subarashii kingdom, trying to win over Hibi-chama again."

Tsuki laughed weakly at his use of 'chama.'

"Why exactly did you want to see Tsuki and me anyway?" I asked, gazing dully out the window. There were too many people out there. I went to gazing at the tea I was stirring instead.

"Well, why not?" Psyche replied brightly. "And after all, with all the weird stuff going on, I thought maybe we should see each other more often."

"Right," I agreed none-too-enthusiastically.

"Yeah! I never really see you guys, especially you, Roppi! I'm so glad I get to see you now!" he cried in delight.

"I-it's nice to see you too, Psyche," Tsuki smiled. "We should…definitely see each other more."

"Maybe you could come to one of our concerts!" Psyche suggested, pink eyes shining. "I mean, maybe Roppi wouldn't like it because there's a crowd, but maybe you'd like it." Right, I forgot to mention that Psyche and Delic were both pretty popular singers here… They were a part of the band called Psychedelic Dreams. One of the many reasons I didn't like being around them publicly was because they naturally drew attention due to their profession. "If you don't want to that's okay; I really don't mind. Either way it'd be great to see you guys," he grinned. His endless optimism was irritating…

"Um, maybe I can come to one sometime," said Tsuki. "When's your next c-concert?"

"Hmm, I think not until next month," Psyche said thoughtfully. "Oh well; it's something to look forward to. Oh! Maybe I could get you backstage passes and you could see us and talk and stuff; doesn't that sound fun?"

"Y-yeah, it sounds g-great…!"

I sighed lightly. Tsuki was getting a little overwhelmed with Psyche's enthusiasm, I could tell. Why did we agree to meet him today again…?

"Hmm… Oh," said Psyche, "I heard about what happened with Virus. Did it really happen right in front of your apartment, Roppi?"

"Yeah…," I confirmed uninterestedly.

"D-do you know if V-Virus is okay?" asked Tsuki.

"Oh, no, Tsu told me that Virus wasn't coming back…" Psyche's tone actually seemed serious for once, so I looked at him. He looked scared. "He died," he said quietly.

Tsuki shifted uncomfortably. "Th-that's…t-terrible…"

Psyche stared with wide, childishly fearful eyes at his food for a bit without saying a word. I guessed he had some kind of fear of death. Then he looked up at me. "…Hey, Roppi, why was Virus at your apartment anyway?" he asked curiously, transitioning back to his bubbly self relatively smoothly. I noticed Tsuki glance at me; he was probably wondering too.

I sighed. "Virus followed me home," I explained dully. "He wanted to make some kind of alliance with me. So he followed me home as if he were a stalker or something."

"And then he walked out and Psy just…?"

"Yep," I confirmed for Psyche.

"Oh. Well, did Tsu tell you what happened to Sakuraya?" Psyche inquired, and sipped at his milkshake.

"W-what happened?" asked Tsuki, eyebrows clinched in worry.

"Well, you know how the river near where they live stopped flowing?"

Tsuki nodded. I just looked at Psyche, listening.

"Well, see, Sakuraya was washing his clothes in the river – they do that where they live – and just then, as if a dam upstream had burst, a wave came crashing in, sweeping Sakuraya away! And then the river was flowing again." Psyche paused. "…Do you think he's okay?" he asked fretfully. "They haven't found him yet…"

"I-I hope he's okay…," Tsuki responded, shifting uncomfortably and wringing his wrists.

I poked at my pastry with a fork. Everything was going wrong, huh? "When'd that happen, anyway?"

"Just this morning," Psyche replied.

"Hm," I grunted, and sipped at my tea.

"If they find Sakuraya I can call you though," he said brightly. "Tsu says it's only a matter of time; we just need to be patient. Hey! You think I can see you guys tomorrow?"

"Um…m-maybe…," Tsuki responded, glancing nervously over to me. He knew I probably didn't want to see Psyche two days in a row. And he was right. "M…maybe I can meet you tomorrow, b-but I—I think Roppi might have something to—to do…"

"That's okay," Psyche beamed. "What are you doing, Roppi?"

 _Staying away from you._ "I'm going to have to sneak into my house and decide what I'll need to bring over to Tsuki's…," I half-lied.

Psyche gasped. "Wait! You're moving in with Tsuki?!"

"Wait, that's not—"

"Deli was actually _right_!" he cried. "You and Tsuki are _together_?Like, in a _relationship_?" Psyche asked, getting more and more excited.

"No! Psyche, you idiot, it's because there's too many reporters and police right outside my door!" I snapped.

Tsuki was silently flustered, red in the face. Blushing; of course.

"…So you two aren't dating?" Psyche asked, disappointed.

" _No_ ," I responded, and hissed out a sigh, looking to the ceiling. "Dumbass…," I muttered in an undertone.

Needless to say, I was glad when the lunch ended and we finally parted ways with Psyche.


	5. Chapter 5

Turned out Psyche wasn't able to see Tsuki the next day anyway, nor the day after. Although, I was beginning to wonder why it was taking the police so long to clear out of my apartment. Honestly. At least I was okay with being at Tsuki's for awhile. Plus, he made food. But three days after we'd had lunch with Psyche, Tsuki went out to see him again, giving an apologetic farewell to me before he left. I, of course, hadn't wanted to go.

So for awhile I sat idly on Tsuki's couch, not even listening to the news he'd left on as I stared at the ceiling, flicking my blade out and then back, out and then back, over and over again. I was bored, mind wandering nowhere. Noticing my mind turning to darker places, I tuned back into the news, still not looking at it. The voice coming from the speakers was of an informative-sounding and serious man. " _…and although the body has been found after three days of searching, it is highly unfortunate to find he did not survive the freak flood._ "

"Sakuraya?" I mumbled, looking to the screen just as the newscaster said, " _More on that story when further details are disclosed,_ " and the screen filled with footage of angry humans instead.

" _In other news,_ " said the voice of a woman newscaster, " _the people under direct rule of the Subarashii kingdom have begun rebelling—_ " I shut the television off, no longer paying attention nor wanting to hear any more of that. For a moment I just sat there, but I was restless, and so I stood. Maybe I would get a tea at our favorite café and stand on the bridge Tsuki and I so often stood on together. Of course, I'd be alone, but it didn't really matter at this point anyhow.

And so, I walked out of the room and then out the door after slipping on my shoes. It didn't take long for me to realize that going to our favorite café would mean using public transportation…unless I was willing to go on foot to a whole different section of the city. I began looking around for some small café without too many people instead. As I was walking along the sidewalk, the traffic of humans moderate, someone bumped hard into me, making me stagger slightly. I could hear a clatter against the pavement as my knife fell out of my pocket. I quickly turned around to snatch it up, but the guy who'd bumped into me was already grabbing it.

"What the hell's this?" he asked, and the moment I heard his voice I recognized him. I looked him in the face; I was right. This was the guy that had messed with me since middle school, a blond with real short hair and cool grey eyes. A cocky leader type, the kind that had 'friends' that followed him around and went with what he wanted.

"It's a knife, dumbass," I snapped, and jerked my hand out to hold it palm-up. "Now could I have it back?" I asked coldly.

"What the fuck are you so snappy for?" he asked me, nose scrunching.

Oh, he knew full well why I was snappy. He'd made me snap at him for years.

"I wonder what he uses _that_ for," said one of his cronies; oh great, there were more. Two others, each with a kind of arrogant I'm-better-than-you air. I knew all of their names. The main one was named Daisuke. Ryuuya was the one who just talked, and the last one was Reiji…

"He's pretty rude; maybe his parents di'n't raise 'im right," said Reiji. "Probably uses it against his mean ol' daddy."

I actually never knew my father. And these three were really pissing me off.

"What do you say he uses it on himself?" asked Daisuke. "Huh? This reserved for your wrists?" He held it up in front of me. I snatched it away from him, and he smiled. The others laughed.

"It'll be reserved for _you_ if you don't all _shut up_ ," I spat, tone acid.

"Who the fuck you think _you_ are?" asked Ryuuya.

My eyes narrowed at him. "Just because your brother's dead doesn't mean you have to be an asshole to people," I hissed, and he stiffened.

"Hey; what do you know about his brother?" Daisuke snapped.

Here was where I got confused. Of course I knew about Ryuuya's brother, he'd died soon after Tsuki flipped his shit on him. "Do you not recognize me or something?" I asked flatly. The act they were trying to pull here was just stupid.

"No," Daisuke answered, indignant. "Who the fuck are you?"

I stared. They didn't know who I was. I could see in their eyes. They really didn't know me. But they couldn't just forget about me like that…

…Oh well.

Good riddance.

"Never mind," I muttered, stuffing my knife in my pocket and turning round to walk away. I heard them uttering to each other what a freak I was, but I just ignored them. My pace was hastened so I could get away from them faster, and as I saw a café out of the corner of my eye, I immediately directed my course there and entered, relieved to be off the sidewalk. To my pleasure, there was barely anyone inside the café. Now in a generally irritated state, I ordered a simple sandwich and drink with clipped sentences and hard eyes. The girl taking my order seemed nervous at my tone; she should learn to deal with it. There were people worse than me out there.

I sat alone in a corner, mostly ignoring everyone around me, sticking ear buds in my ears to block everything out. I hadn't been low in over a week; that's an accomplishment for me. But now I was pretty low again… Yet not _too_ low. I could handle it. And if I fell even lower, especially considering I was alone, well, I'd deal with it anyway.

I was actually a bit calmer when I threw out the remains of my lunch and walked back out the door with my drink. From there I started heading back to Tsuki's house. It was beginning to occur to me that I'd actually witnessed someone's murder. And although I was bitter just a few minutes ago, I wasn't bitter enough now to laugh mirthlessly at the realization. Nah, for now I was sobered by it. And Tsuki had killed someone himself; who would've thought…

"Oi, Roppi!" a voice called out after I'd walked a block or so, and I stopped short, stiffening. A sleek white car slowed by the sidewalk, and I glared into the front window at Delic's face as he pulled over in all his pink, irritating glory. "I'm so glad I found you!"

"What do you want, Delic." My tone was flat. Now that I actually looked through the window, I found that Hibiya was in the passenger seat. "And why the hell is Hibiya here?"

"It's none of your business, louse!" Hibiya barked.

"Maybe it is if Delic's pulling over to talk to me," I said dully.

Delic shut off the car and opened the door, about to step out. I instinctively and dully put out my leg to trip him, and he faceplanted onto the sidewalk. _Wow_. I brought my overly-long sleeve to my mouth to hide my smile.

Hibiya, meanwhile, scoffed in disdain. "You have the grace of an intoxicated beluga whale, Delic."

"Haha…," he laughed in that slight, untrue way as he brushed himself off. He smiled mirthlessly at me with narrowed eyes. "Ass."

"I don't know how many times I've told you people I'm not nice," I said flatly, eyebrows raised. I was still vaguely amused.

He casually flipped me off, and I snickered behind my sleeve.

"By the way," he said in a low voice, "I have Hibiya in my car because he needed to get outta his castle asap." He straightened, crossing his arms. "I just happened to be passing by when I noticed Hibiya calling for help as a damsel in distress would, and I just had to be his knight in shining armo—"

Hibiya, who had stalked irately from the car, promptly cut him off by stomping on his foot. "Liar," he hissed. "You were trying to _court_ me, you perverse prat!" He turned to me, straightening his posture proudly and gazing at me with his usual contempt. "My subjects rebelled, and _Delic_ was the only option I had to escape."

I gazed flatly at the two of them. "So what do you want from me?" I asked without inflection, not even caring Hibiya's kingdom could very well be crumbling.

"Uh, Psyche was going with Tsuki today, right?" Delic asked, and I nodded.

"Your point?"

"Well I need to find Psyche. Do you know where he is?"

"Probably," I answered vaguely.

"Answer him so we can get this over with," Hibiya scowled. "I hate standing on this filthy ground."

"Wouldn't want to scuff your shoes," I muttered, rolling my eyes. I earned a hard glare. "I know the general area they went to," I said to Delic.

"Do you know the place well?" he inquired, tugging at the sleeve of his jacket.

"Yeah," I said.

"Could you show me around there and help me find them?"

I stared. "No."

"Wait; please?"

"We're taking him _with us_?" Hibiya asked incredulously.

"Hibiya, you should probably take off your crown; you're not in the palace," Delic returned.

His hands flew to his crown. "What?! But—"

"Don't worry, we should be getting back in the car soon…"

"I'm not getting in that car with you," I said flatly. "I hate him" – I jerked my head to Hibiya – "and _you_ annoy the hell out of me."

"Oh, _you_ hate _me_ ," Hibiya scoffed. "How easy for you, _maggot_. Hate me all you want; it isn't going to change my position, nor your own of self-pitying worthlessness," he spat, and I glared at him.

"Look! No fighting!" Delic interjected. "Right now, I need to find Psyche and figure out a place for Hibiya to stay until the rebellion's stamped out."

"He's not staying with me," I said immediately.

"I'd rather stay on the streets with the _dogs_ ," Hibiya frowned, lip curling.

"I wasn't suggesting you two be together; Jesus," Delic huffed. "I'm gonna try to get you a room at the studio, but _first_ , I have to find Psyche—"

"Why would I stay with _you_?" Hibiya snapped. "You'll harass me or act out some other form of annoyance!"

"We're going to be in different rooms!" Delic cried in frustration. "Besides, just because I like to flirt doesn't mean I'm not a gentleman; I'm not going to invade privacy unless you _want_ me to."

"Oh; unless I _want_ you to; _really_ , Delic," Hibiya jeered. "As if any decent human being would want _that_!"

" _Roppi will you help me find Psyche_?" Delic repeated in a strained voice, and I caught onto his frustration and desperation.

"Whatever," I responded, and he deflated in bemusement.

"…Wait, you will?" he asked blankly.

"Sure. Why the hell not," I said unenthusiastically.

"What the _hell_? I don't want to be in the same vehicle as _this scum_ ," Hibiya said in obvious disgust.

"As if I want to be stuck with you, either, you spoiled brat," I scowled.

" 'Spoiled brat,' _hah_!" he laughed derisively.

"Both of you, stop fighting right now," Delic spoke firmly, and the two of us glared silently at one another. The blond in the group heaved a sigh. "Okay, now Roppi get in the passenger seat and—"

"You expect me to sit in the back like a child?" Hibiya hissed.

"Think of me like a chauffeur," he responded flatly. "And Roppi is our GPS."

I shot him an annoyed look.

"…What's a GPS?" asked Hibiya, and I rolled my eyes and walked over to the car, opening the passenger door to get inside.

"…Never mind, Hibiya…," Delic said. "Here, I'll open the door for you and everything." He opened the back door and gestured for Hibiya to get inside with a charming grin while I buckled my seatbelt.

Hibiya frowned at him, then straightened before stepping proudly to the door and sitting inside.

I leaned on the ledge on my door, gazing dully out the window. I listened as Delic got into the car and shut it behind him. "I swear to god, you better not be kidnapping us for your own pleasures," I said tonelessly.

"I'd never do _that_!" he responded.

" _Excuse me_?" asked Hibiya.

"Don't listen to him; I wouldn't do something stupid like that," Delic assured Hibiya quickly. "Fuck; Roppi, can you not complicate things?"

I rolled my eyes. "They're already complicated." But I'd noticed that Delic's usually flirtatious nature was lessened right now; he was actually being serious for once. Who would have thought it was possible? I was under the impression he was a sexually inclined idiot and nothing more, but for now he had a serious look on his face and - for now - that could make him tolerable. I think Hibiya was noticing his slight change in character, too, even though I really didn't care about either of them all too much. Especially not Hibiya.

I sighed as the car started moving. These two were probably the two alternates I hated most. How did I end up stuck with them?…

"…Delic, what is that man doing?" asked Hibiya, squinting out the window. I didn't look back to him. "He looks like a fool."

"He's trying to get a taxi," Delic answered patiently. "A taxi's basically for public transportation."

"Well, he looks ridiculous," the prince sniffed.

I wanted to make a rude remark about his lack of this common knowledge, but set my jaw and didn't say a word. It seemed to take forever in that car, though at least I had to give directions every so often so we weren't in a hard silence throughout. Not that I wanted either of them to talk. Then I'd hate the ride even more. A few times I'd give the direction to turn at the last second, calm and flat, and then Delic would brake immediately and hiss under his breath in frustration, but he wouldn't actually say a word. It amused me, so at least there was that. Hah.

"They should be around here," I said eventually.

"Do you know where around here?" Delic returned dully.

"Nope."

"Damn." He sighed, and I smiled ever so slightly.

"But you could check a certain café," I suggested, not smiling any longer.

"Alright, where is it?"

I directed him to it, and he slowed to peer in the windows, but Tsuki and Psyche were nowhere to be seen in the café. Delic gave a _tch_ and sped up on the road out of some idiotic frustration impulse, turning the corner with a screech and speeding right past Psyche and Tsuki on the sidewalk. "Um—" I began, but Hibiya cut me off.

" _Good lord,_ Delic, don't get us killed!" he snapped.

"Sorry." He grinned, then. "But we're not dead yet~"

"Delic, you passed them," I said flatly.

" _What_?" He put the car in reverse immediately and accelerated backwards, jolting Hibiya forward while I just held onto the car door calmly, looking bored. He slammed the brakes when we reached them on the sidewalk, then pulled over, parked on the side of the road, and immediately got out after unbuckling himself.

"Wh—" Hibiya began, then promptly unbuckled himself and began following after him.

With a sigh, I clicked myself to freedom and opened the door to step out to the befuddled Tsuki and Psyche, the serious Delic and the flustered Hibiya. Then there was me, just standing dully there.

"R-Roppi?" Tsuki inquired, staring at me with justifiable perplexity that I was riding with Delic, not to mention Hibiya.

"What's going on, Deli?" Psyche asked confusedly. "Is something wrong? Why did you bring Roppi-san and Hibi-chama?"

I closed my eyes in irritation at being called 'Roppi-san,' but decidedly became less irritated with that as Hibiya snapped at him, "Stop using _chama_ , will you?! Airheaded _dunce,_ " he spat.

"Look, Psyche, we need to take Hibiya back to our studio," Delic interrupted the beginning of an argument, all seriousness.

"Wha—why's that, Deli?" Psyche stared, wide-eyed as he tilted his head like a little kid.

"Hibiya's servants are rebelling and he needs a place to stay. We're not going to be the ones to leave him to be possibly captured or even killed. We're going to help him until things settle down."

"…He's not going to be in my room, is he?" Psyche asked. He really was just a little kid in a body older than my own.

"Psyche," Delic hissed, leaning so his face was right in front of his. Psyche seemed afraid by Delic's intensity, and Tsuki took a subconscious step backward. "It doesn't _matter_ whether he's in your room or not; we're getting him out of there _now_ , no matter the cost."

I have to say I was almost impressed with this new Delic that wasn't idiotic or flirtatious. Almost.

My eyes flicked to the prince; he was standing stiffly and staring in likely surprise. He apparently didn't know this Delic either.

The blond's voice lowered. "Don't think about yourself for a sec, and tell me honestly you don't care if he gets hurt somehow. And if you don't care, well, _we're_ pretty close, right?" Psyche nodded. " _Well I care_ ," Delic said lowly, and straightened, flashing a smile and returning to his old self. "And that's one of the many, many reasons my prince should come to stay with us!"

Hibiya didn't even yell at him for saying 'my prince.' He just stared, maybe perplexed that a human would _want_ to help him without being ordered to, or something like that. "…Delic…"

"Deliii…," Psyche wailed. "You _know_ I wasn't serious; you _know_ it! I wanna have Hibi with us! It's fun! It'll be fun! We can all have fun and do together things! Right?"

"…Don't count on it," Hibiya muttered.

Delic ruffled Psyche's hair. "Whelp, let's get going, then," he said shortly, bowing to Tsuki and I. "Thanks a lot, Roppi. You know you're welcome to take a ride with me any time~" He winked.

I glared. "Go away."

"Psyche, c'mon; let's go," said Delic, gripping his singing partner's wrist before bringing him over to the car. It didn't take much to get Psyche and Hibiya into the car, with a hasty goodbye from Psyche and a hearty (annoying) call of farewell to Tsuki and I from Delic. He got in the driver's seat, closed the door, and made a sharp U-turn before speeding off.

In the silence following, Tsuki and I looked at one another. He still looked confused.

"…Hey," I said, and he laughed weakly in response.


	6. Chapter 6

"They…they really didn't remember you?" Tsuki asked with a hint of incredulousness.

I only shrugged in response, lying on my back, half on his couch with one of my feet planted on the ground. Tsuki was sitting at the other end of the couch, where he wasn't on the bent leg that was actually on his furniture.

"Th-that's…not normal…"

"Nope," I answered shortly. I didn't feel like talking to people anymore. I'd already had to deal with Delic and Hibiya, and now I just didn't feel like interacting at all…

"D-do you think that, um, we should—should, uh, c-call Tsugaru?" my friend stuttered.

I shrugged.

"…" He looked at me, then awkwardly stood up. "I…I-I'll go call him, then…" I didn't answer, and he pulled out his cell phone and walked away so I wouldn't be annoyed by their conversation.

I just laid there and stared at the ceiling in the meantime.

I couldn't sleep much that night. Although I'd been doing alright for awhile after eating lunch that day, I was sinking again, and I couldn't help it. I felt like Tsuki was sleeping just fine in his room; but then, he didn't have insomnia like I did, so it didn't matter.

It was times like these, when I was alone and already sinking, that my mind began over-thinking things and my thoughts would turn to negativity whether it was my will or not. And if I went too low and my thoughts became to overwhelming, it was these times, too, that I might end up self-harming just like those jackasses had said. (I especially hated those moments when what humans accused me of was true.)

But I didn't hurt myself; don't worry, Tsuki. I just lay awake and thinking things I shouldn't, waiting for morning to come again. When Tsuki came into the living room to check on me in the morning, he found me already sitting up, looking irritated as always. He awkwardly greeted me with a good morning, then made us breakfast and some tea for me; coffee for him. While he ate and I picked at my food, he suddenly looked up from his food to eye me fretfully. He made an odd, cut-off noise, and at that I looked back at him with a dull stare.

"D-did I tell you I was going to—to see Tsugaru t-today?" he asked worriedly, scared that he had forgotten. Justifiable, considering he had.

"No," I answered simply, careful not to let myself get angry at something so stupid. In the low, anything like this could cause doubt. I just set my eyes on my food and listened for responses, ears ringing.

"I-I'm sorry… Ts-Tsugaru; he—he said he'd love to talk with me, and—and you too if you wanted, b-but only if you wanted. Umm…I-I was going to g-go a-after breakfast…" He was trying to explain everything to me quickly, but his stuttering nature slowed the process. "I-it's just to—to discuss things a-and…"

"I don't want to go," I said flatly, keeping tone away from my voice.

"I-I…I thought not… I-is that alright, though? Y-you'll be okay and all?"

"I'll be fine."

Tsuki hesitated, drawing his lips into a thin line. He noticed I wasn't making eye contact. "…R…R-Roppi, are you sure? I-I can stay here with you…"

"I don't care."

"R-really! I-I could see him some other time instead…"

" _I said_ , I don't _care_ ," I told him, voice hardening. No way was I keeping him here just because of my petty needs. "Just go."

"A-are you sure? I-I really wouldn't mind staying—"

"I said it's fine!" I snapped, glaring at him. "I don't care—you can go. I'm fine. It's fine."

He stared at me, momentarily hurt at the way I'd snapped. I looked away. I couldn't think about that yet. Couldn't feel bad yet. That'd make me feel worse. I didn't need him. I didn't need him; he could leave for a few hours. I could make it on my own for that long; good _lord_. I wasn't going to hinder him of what he wanted to do… I hated being some kind of burden…

"…I…I'll be back by early afternoon," he told me, sounding reassuring and apologetic at the same time. He slowly stood and took his plate from the table, taking it to the sink. He seemed hesitant and regretful even as he bowed to me awkwardly in a form of farewell before heading out.

I'm not going to get into my time alone at Tsuki's house, but I'll say it was eventually too long in silence. My thoughts grew too loud and things got overwhelming to the point I wielded my knife for use… I stopped abruptly, however, when I jolted my spiraling thoughts to stillness in noting I could possibly bleed on Tsuki's couch. After that, I just froze up. Trembling and a bit ashamed I'd used my knife in my friend's home, I slipped into the bathroom to wash my knife and grab some bandages. All the while, I was hissing to myself how stupid I was. Yet even through this I could feel myself get even lower to the point I was plummeting into thoughts of what Tsuki's reaction might be if he found me dead in his house.

I felt sick. Why were these coming up _now_? Stop. Stop. _Stop_. I accidently knocked over an array of first aid things, and they all tumbled to the ground. I leaned down to try to gather them all up, but then I just gave up and sat there, putting my hands over my ears and wishing I'd stop plummeting so fast, stop, stop; where's something to cling to? I found myself shutting my eyes and hunching forward, waiting for the storm in my head to pass. My cheeks became wet, and I could vaguely hear the tears dripping onto the bathroom floor. What the _fuck_ ; this was ridiculous; why was everything crashing in at once…

I sat like that for awhile, curled up with my hands over my ears, body tense and tears streaming down my face with first aid items strewn on the floor around me. When things slowed a bit, I slowly, shakily removed my hands from my ears – as if that position had done anything to help in the first place – and opened my eyes. Everything I did was shaky; moving and breathing and looking. I was also very slow as I put every item that had fallen carefully back onto the shelf. I still didn't quite feel the pain in my arms yet.

As the gauze was the last thing on the floor, I lifted it as if it were lead and trudged from the bathroom to the couch, not even sitting on the cushion but instead sitting directly in front of the furniture on the floor. I roughly, clumsily wiped my cheeks of the wet, then wiping it on my jacket and repeating until my face felt dry again. Shaking, I started bandaging myself up. I was only halfway done with one arm when I heard the door open. I slumped. _I'm sorry, Tsuki…_ I hung my head and felt my eyes swell with tears again. I tried to blink them away.

I heard his footsteps, and I heard them stop; he'd probably found me. Then they were coming towards me and I saw his knees as he knelt in front of me. "Sorry…," I mumbled, but he just gently took my hand, carefully lifted my sleeve again, and started bandaging it up for me. I let him, not making any form of eye contact. He was better at bandaging than me; being the idiotic klutz he was he was used to bandaging and fixing up any kind of cut or scrape. Soon my arms were neatly bandaged and I was sitting there, Tsuki kneeling in front of me in silence.

He was the one who spoke first. "…I…I'm s-sorry, Roppi…," he mumbled. "I…I should have waited… I—sorry…"

My red-eyed gaze went to the side. "Nah…" My voice was a little bit raspy.

"D-did…you feel like that…b-before I left?…"

I shrugged. "Not really."

I saw him nod a little out of the corner of my eye. "D…did the power—the power g-go out here too?"

My brow furrowed and I gave him a look. "No."

His own red eyes flickered, and he looked away again. "S-sorry. Wh-while I was at Tsu-Tsugaru's, the—the power went out and, um, Tsugaru, he…well, he thought maybe—maybe s-something was wrong. Th-there was a—a little bit of an earthquake, t-too…"

"Did you fall over?" I asked flatly, looking dully at him.

He looked back, blinking. Then he laughed slightly. "Y…yeah…"

I rolled my eyes. "Of course," I said, and he half-laughed in his nervous, weak way as he sensed I was feeling a little better now, at least.

* * *

Nothing else happened that day. After a bit, Tsuki hesitantly told me about some of the things he and Tsugaru had discussed. Apparently something could be going very wrong, and if we weren't careful we could all end up dead, just like Virus and Sakuraya and allegedly even Shitsuo. Tsugaru mused to Tsuki about how the alternates' deaths may actually be affecting Izaya, but I really didn't care about that, so I listened less at that point. Tsuki noticed and instead told me about alternates also created by Izaya that weren't based off of him or 'Shizu-chan.' There were seven others that Tsugaru learned about during a conversation he'd had once with Izaya himself. Their names were…ah…maybe it doesn't matter, but Tsuki seemed interested when he said it—Tsugaru told him their names and even who they were based off of. Why can't I remember?… Three were based off of high school students that Izaya had taken interest in, in his world… Another one was based off of a guy called Dotachin; I remember the alternate's name was Tsuppari. One based off of 'Shizu-chan's' brother, I think, and two others.

I can't remember many of their names, so deal with it.

But I think the last two's names were Diamonds and Rouge… Diamonds was based off of a friend of Izaya, or something… I didn't think he had friends. Then Rouge had no head or some shit like that.

Oh, whatever. Who gives a shit? Spoiler alert, I never did meet any of them anyway.

Well, when the ground shook and the power went out at Tsugaru's house, apparently Tsugaru figured something was going wrong that moment – come to think of it, that probably would have been around the time that I started plummeting. Maybe something _was_ going on at right then, but now it didn't really matter. Tsuki expressed to me that Tsugaru seemed to know the most about what was going on, but I didn't exactly care at the time. Granted, I actually didn't mind Tsugaru so much… He was calm and collected – not irritating in the slightest. He was actually a human I could tolerate.

But our conversation ended, things got better, dinner was made, and night came. I did sleep that night, at least more than I had the night before. And when I woke up, I actually felt pretty good… Better than I had in awhile. Breathing came easy and life seemed tolerable and even enjoyable. Maybe things were on the mend and everything would start getting better. Tsuki was happy with my implied improved mood, and the atmosphere was light even as Tsuki got a phone call.

He blinked confusedly when his cell rang; I had actually been half-smiling along with him, but the ringing caused me to catch myself and hide my smile behind my sleeve, averting my gaze from Tsuki. My friend, meanwhile, looked at his cell and said in bemusement, "…It's Psyche…"

By then I could stop smiling. I looked at him as he answered the phone. "Hello?" He blinked. "H-hi, Psyche; I can c-come over if—if you want. …R-Roppi? W-well…" Tsuki looked at me, and I shrugged. I didn't care. I was in a good mood anyway; why the hell not? "M-maybe," he said, and they closed off the conversation – I could hear Psyche's happy tones on the other end of the line. Tsuki would ask me if I wanted to come to visit Psyche, and I would answer with a 'Why the hell not?' before we headed out.

I almost didn't mind taking public transportation this time around, although I did openly complain about it to Tsuki. And we got there eventually, but we couldn't find Psyche waiting for us. Of course Tsuki thought it was smart to look for him (which I guess was true, but not if it was Tsuki looking), so he began to lead us out of the entrance room… I stopped him and led the search instead. I didn't feel like getting lost, no matter how good a mood I was in.

We were passing through any old hallway when there was something like a shriek coming from behind the door we had just passed by. Both of us turned back, tensing at the sound – obviously something bad had happened, right? Tsuki seemed to think so as he hastened his way to the door to see if everything was alright. Something occurred to me a moment too late. "Tsuki, wait, maybe you shouldn't—"

The door was swung open, and Hibiya screeched again upon seeing the door open, not to mention with me and Tsuki on the other side of it. My eyebrow twitched. We hadn't found Psyche and no one was in danger – the only thing probably in danger was Hibiya's virginity, assuming he still had it. They were still clothed, for the most part, but Hibiya was incredibly disheveled and his clothes weren't precisely all the way on. Delic was right in front of him, hands poised to do something to Hibiya's messy clothing. Not exactly something either of us wanted to think about.

"S-sorry!" Tsuki yelped, and slammed the door shut again, turning around with a red face, either with embarrassment, awkwardness, or both.

" _God damn it, Delic!_ " Hibiya screamed from inside the room, and Tsuki nervously looked back at the door. " _Harassment!_ "

"W-was I supposed to help him?" Tsuki asked.

"Nah," I responded, and turned to begin walking away as there was a pained sound that suggested Delic had been kneed in the place a man wishes not to be kneed. I found out later from a frantically explaining Delic that he had walked in on Hibiya like that - apparently the prince didn't know how to put on his shirt correctly, let alone make himself look neat. Delic tried to help, and therefore we saw a confusing image. Whatever. It was still weird.

Eyes hesitantly looking back to the closed door, Tsuki began to follow again to find Psyche.

* * *

That bit was completely pointless to tell you, but I'm still trying to put together the order of events, so don't even argue. We eventually found Psyche, even though at first he didn't seem so happy or excited to see us, which was weird. He seemed lost or confused or something. But he returned to himself and resumed being annoying as he always was, saying we should all spend more time because Tsugaru said so. We found out that the rebellion had been stamped out, and Hibiya would be going back to his castle that day. Good for him. Honestly, the news didn't spark my interest.

The rest of the day, nothing much happened, and my good mood lingered and stayed throughout, even into the next morning. All seemed nice; that is, until Tsuki got another call from Psyche. Tsuki was vaguely confused as to why Psyche would call two days in a row, but we guessed that he was just wanting to see us again. He'd said himself that he wanted to see us more often.

When Tsuki answered, though, and he gave a "Hello?" into the receiver, he blinked at the voice on the other end responding. "…Tsugaru?" he inquired, and that's when I looked at my friend, almost curious as to what was going on. Almost. "Y-you're taking Psyche home? Wh-what's…?" Pause. "Wh-what happened?" Pause. Tsuki's expression was slowly becoming more urgent and worried. "O-oh, w-we can c-come, y-yeah. S-see you soon." He hung up.

"What's going on?" I asked flatly.

"I-I don't know. W-we need to meet Ts-Tsugaru at Psyche and D-Delic's studio…"

I groaned at the news, sinking farther into my chair. "Do we have to?… We were just there yesterday…"

"R-Roppi, s…s-something bad happened!" Tsuki cried. "B-but y-you—you don't have to go if you don't want to—I—I'll g-go, though—"

"It's fine, Tsuki," I soothed in an actually-not-that-soothing tone. (I was not designed for soothing.) "I'm coming; I'm coming…" I got to my feet and slipped into my shoes while Tsuki panicked because he couldn't find his crossover shoulder bag. "Tsuki, you already have your bag," I said dully after watching him for a few seconds.

He blinked, realizing I was right as he looked down and gripped his bag's strap. "O-oh, th-thanks."

I rolled my eyes, and we headed out, Tsuki tugging at his beige scarf as we walked. It seemed to take awhile to get there, if only because Tsuki was so nervous (more so than usual), not too mention _something_ had happened. I'd no clue what, though, so for the moment I just plugged in my ear buds and blocked out the world.

Once we were off the train, the trip on foot seemed to take less time. Maybe because we were actually _doing_ something to get there rather than just sitting on the subway. "I…I-I wonder…wh-what happened…," remarked Tsuki when we reached the entrance to the white-painted studio. We entered the doors and found Psyche and Tsugaru sitting on the white couch; Tsugaru was half-holding the singer, eyes calm and vaguely concerned as he tried to comfort Psyche, who was obviously distressed. Tears were freely pouring down his cheeks, falling onto his and Tsugaru's lap as he sobbed his ignorant little heart out.

"Look…," Tsugaru spoke in low, smooth tones in meaning to soothe the singer. "Tsukishima-san and Hachimenroppi-san came to make sure you're okay, too."

"Wh-what happened?" Tsuki cried, running to Psyche. Honestly, my first thought was that something stupid had happened, like Delic eating his cake… But then I remembered that Tsugaru had called us here and realized this could be a lot more serious than cake-stealing. I approached them, staying a bit farther away than the others. I'm not exactly good at comforting people anyhow.

"I've been trying to find out since I found him," Tsugaru responded. "Psyche…could you tell us now?… Remember, you only have to when you're ready to… Take your time…"

Psyche choked back another sob and tried to speak, then just started crying again. He tried again. "He—he—"

"He?" Tsugaru asked patiently. "Who is he?"

"D-Delic—he—" he broke off and resumed sobbing, clinging to the cloth of Tsugaru's kimono. Tsugaru cooed softly reassuring words that I could never come up with. Tsuki was kneeling in front of the couch, worry etched on his face. I was just standing there kinda awkwardly, rubbing the back of my head and trying to avert my gaze.

"U-uh…it—it's okay, Psyche…," said Tsuki.

" _No it's not_!" Psyche snapped, and let out a wail. "Deli _diiiied_ ; Deli _diiiiiiied_ ," he cried out in some kind of wail or moan. I looked at him. Delic was dead?

"Can you tell us what happened?" Tsugaru asked, tone soft.

"He—he wasn't looking—the road, he—" – he broke off to sob – "—he went into the road and—and there was—he—Deli, he—he—and th-there was so much—so much red and—he—he—" He broke off again to go back to sobbing. Tsugaru held him a little closer to try and comfort him. Tsuki was just staring in horror at Psyche – he had just watched his childhood friend and musical partner get killed in the street by some vehicle or another… No wonder he was such a mess. I couldn't think of anything to say here.

"All of us are in danger," Tsugaru said soberly.

"We're all gonna _die_!" Psyche cried out. "All of us will die and we can't do anything and Deli is gone and Virus is gone and Sakuraya is gone, gone, _gone_!" he wailed. "They won't ever come _back_ and neither will we because we're dying too!" He was growing more hysterical by the moment. "We're all gonna die, Tsu, we'll all _die_ , Tsugaru, please don't leeaavee…" He began sobbing into Tsugaru's chest. The traditional-style man embraced him, then looked at us with serious eyes.

"Tsukishima-san…" Tsuki straightened. "Find Psychedelic-420 and ask him to come with you back here immediately. We are going to stick together from here on to prevent any more losses. He lives in the city northwest of here known for its futuristic technology. He should be in the southeast part of city, on duty in the police station."

Tsuki nodded vigorously. "O-okay." I couldn't help but think of how long it would probably take for my friend to find that place. I was about to ask if I should go with him so he wouldn't get as lost, but then Tsugaru looked at me.

"Hachimenroppi-san."

I shifted, crossing my arms over my chest. "Yeah?"

"I'm very sorry…" he apologized, "…but I need you to go to Prince Hibiya's palace as quickly as possible. Ask Hibiya-san if the rest of us may stay in his castle until things start getting better… Also, you may wish to tell him about Delic's death… I know you two dislike each other, but Psy-420 is very violent, and particularly dislikes Izaya alternates. I'd prefer Tsukishima-san to retrieve Psy. I would go myself in order to help, but for now I feel I should stay with Psyche…"

"Th-that's fine," said Tsuki quickly.

"Yeah… Fine, I can do that…," I said halfheartedly, though I didn't really want to deal with Hibiya again…

Tsuki gave a tentative farewell to Psyche and a bow to Tsugaru. I just did the bow, unsure what to say to Psyche. Tsugaru nodded to both of us, and we left, my friend and I soon parting ways.


	7. Chapter 7

When I reached the castle and actually found my way to the right room, it had been awhile. Some random servant did, at least, lead me to where Hibiya was. I didn't knock on the tall doors, just heaving one of them open enough so that I could get through.

I was expecting him to be waiting there, sitting on his throne, sneering at me the moment he saw my face, jeering in greeting in his prideful and arrogant way. I was expecting him to rub me the wrong way and disgust me just as much as I disgusted him. I expected the usual.

But when I entered and looked at him, his eyes were hazy and soulless, gazing emptily at the ceiling, slow to respond as he actually took the time to look at me. "…What do you want." There was no snippy tone or arrogant air. Something was very wrong.

"What's your problem?" I asked him flatly, and his lip curled in a familiar way.

"None of your business, wretch. Nothing's wrong… State your business or get out of here." At least there was some of that Hibiya I knew and hated in that tone.

I rolled my eyes and stepped up to his golden throne; up close his eyes were even more empty. He almost reminded me of myself in the low – oh great, so we were _similar_? Disgusting. What was _wrong_ with him; did he lose his pride?

' _And if any one of us loses that main trait, we know that there is_ definitely _something wrong_.' That was what Virus had said, right? His words popped up in my head right then and I couldn't help but think he was right.

"Delic's dead," I blurted out, toneless and blunt. I didn't really mean to say that bit first, but I guess that's just how it would go.

Hibiya only stared at me emptily as if he didn't get it at first. This new prince was making me really uncomfortable. Not angry…uncomfortable. "…Oh," was his only response, and he looked into nowhere.

"Well, apparently all of us could die, so Tsugaru wants us to stick together. He wanted to know if the rest of us could stay in your castle."

"It wouldn't matter," he answered, tone dead.

I was getting less uncomfortable and more angry now. "Are you seriously suggesting we should just let ourselves die?" I stalked closer to him and gripped him by the collar. " _You're_ the one that always barks and taunts at _me_ for being so depressive! You're a fucking _hypocrite!_ " I shouted at him. " _You call me scum and worthless for wanting to die and now you're ready to?! Get up! GET UP!_ " I was shaking him, but he was like some limp, life-size doll dressed in nice clothes. "Where's Shitsuo," I bit out.

"He's dead," Hibiya answered. He looked at me, then gave a wide, bitter smile. "We all are."

I gave some kind of growl and shoved him back in his seat, dropping him and turning around to stalk out of the room. " _You're_ the disgusting one!" I yelled back at him. " _You're the one letting yourself fall so low just like that!_ "

"As if you _know me_ , Roppi!" Hibiya snapped, and I closed the door behind me.

 _Yeah, I guess I don't know him,_ I admitted to myself as I strode irately down the hallway to where I thought was the exit. My picture of him was a prideful and arrogant bastard, raised to be such by his just-as-prideful parents. That's what I figured. Maybe it was just all this weird shit going on, but I'd never seen him like that before. And if that emptiness was actually something he knew, well, maybe there was something else to him that I didn't know about.

But in that moment I didn't really care in the least.

I just cared about getting out of there and going back to the studio to get all of this over with. The sense of urgency seemed to be heightening around me even though I couldn't really feel it myself…

That was, it wasn't affecting me yet; not until I got outside the palace. At first I didn't really notice when I walked alone down the whole carriage path; I was too absorbed in my irritation towards the prince. But after I had reached the outside of the palace gates, I came to notice something was off.

I looked around on the streets from my place just outside the gates, staring into empty, darkened shop windows.

 _Everyone was gone._

Now, I hate humans with a severe passion, and I was already angry at the moment. My first response was a bitter smile and a laugh; the humans I so hated were gone at last. It was a full but bitter laugh, almost mirthless, and it didn't last long… I soon quieted and took to realizing, what if _everyone_ was gone? Tsuki and Tsugaru? Psyche, Psy, even Hibiya? What if I was the only one left? Dread filled my chest instead of bitter mirth, and I pulled out my cell phone to call Tsuki as quickly as possible. It rang once…twice…

"H-hello?"

I sighed in relief, regaining my usual attitude… I just wasn't as irritated anymore as I was shaken. …As much as I hate to admit it. "Tsuki…"

"R-Roppi? Is something wrong?" his voice came through.

"No. Nothing's wrong," I said shortly. "Did you find Psy yet?"

"…N-no… I-I think I'm lost, but…but I—but I will find him soon, I promise," he said, and I rolled my eyes. Of course he was lost.

"I found Hibiya. Says it doesn't matter if we all come to stay or not."

"S-so…w-we can?"

I shrugged, even though he couldn't see it. "I guess."

"U-uh—oh!" he yelped. "Right, um, Tsugaru c-called me, and well, h-he wanted you to—to, um, t-take Hibiya b-back with you."

"Oh." I looked back at the castle with a slight frown. "Alright…" I paused; he started talking just as I did, but he quieted for me to finish. "…Hey, Tsuki?"

"Y-yeah?"

"I don't know what's going on…but everybody around just disappeared… Are they gone where you are too?"

"Y-you mean all the people? W-well…there's—there's no one around here that—that I can see…," he responded. "Do—do you think it—i-it's just us…us alternates left?"

"Maybe…" I frowned a little more. "Hurry up and find Psy. I'll get Hibiya and meet you back at the studio. See you." He stuttered a farewell, and I hung up, heading back into the palace gates irately. It seemed to take forever to go all the way back in and find the same room I'd found him in earlier. To my greater irritation, he wasn't in the room anymore. I heaved a sigh and looked around the room – there was a door in the back behind the throne or whatever; it was cracked open. Maybe he went through there.

I opened the door and hazarded a guess on which direction he took; I picked to the right. (Fortunately, I was correct.) I went down the hall, whatever, the search is an uninteresting piece of this story. There was another door cracked open, and I entered it to find some kind of bedroom – I guessed it was his own. Fancy, as was everything else in this goddamned place.

Hibiya was lying on his bed, face up, on his back. His arm was outstretched, his hand falling over the edge of the bed. Beneath his hand, a crimson knife was on the ground… There was a tipped over bottle on the bedside table – from what I could see it was poison. And from where I was, I could see his bloodied neck. His chest wasn't moving, and the blood had spilled onto his clothes, onto that golden cape of his. He was dead.

Me being the way I was, I didn't know how to respond to it. So I got angry with him. If I were to redo this scene I might have walked over to him and made sure there was no heartbeat; maybe I'd pull up the blankets so he looked at rest. But I didn't do that. I just turned sharply and walked straight back and out of the castle, thoughts simmering in anger and negativity. _Idiot; he wasn't supposed to die. Especially not like_ that _…_

After I'd gotten out of the palace gates again and was walking the streets, I passed by a shop with televisions in the windows – the TVs were miraculously still playing the news, where an actual person was still giving updates. He was screening live the events of the infiltration of a terrorist headquarters, the advance headed by a cop by the name of Psychedelic-420.

Once that was mentioned, I stopped and listened as the infiltration took place, and the newscasters waited for an update, filming from a helicopter with watchful eyes to see when the cops – or the terrorists – came out. They were explaining with urgency that there was the sound of gunshots coming from inside just as I watched the whole building explode, a flash of light and fire. The newscaster was frantically trying to explain the building had exploded to the viewer, but one by one, the televisions began going to static until the last one had gone out.

I frowned as I briskly began walking again, pulling out my cell phone to inform Tsuki he should stop looking for Psy and just head back to the studio – Psy was probably dead. He confusedly obliged and we hung up. I hadn't mentioned that Hibiya was dead.

The subways fortunately still ran, so I boarded an eerily empty train and got off the platform that was closest to the studio. Music beating in my ears to fill the silence (I of course had my ear buds in), I walked the final stretch to my destination. I was actually almost relieved when I saw the white building up ahead. It was still standing and I was honestly hoping that both Psyche and Tsugaru were inside and alive… It was understandable that I would think like that towards Tsugaru, as I didn't mind him so much, but that I was worrying over Psyche was saying something.

Maybe I was scared.

But I would reach the doors, and I knew whatever I found on the other side would tell me whether they were alright or not. I paused, then opened the door. They weren't waiting in the entrance room. I drew my lips into a thin line. Great. Now where were they?

"Tsugaru, Psyche, I'm back," I called, walking in and pulling out my ear buds and turning off my music. I listened, and could make out whimpering in the silence. Well, Psyche was fine.

I rolled my eyes even though I was starting to get some anxiety over why he was out of this room, and I followed the sound to the right, walking into a hall and room that I thought might have been a dressing room of some sort. Empty. Wrong room. I backtracked and continued down the hall to a door wide open. Oh, this was probably where they were.

I entered to some kind of stage, probably for private performances or something. The moment I entered, my gaze locked on a pile of debris and broken light fixtures. There was a broken light at my feet, and as I looked up I could see the sun shining through the ceiling just above where the pile of debris was. Next to the pile of debris, Psyche was on his knees, curled over what seemed to be Tsugaru.

I picked up my pace when I went over to him, looking down and finding Tsugaru to be bloody and broken; Psyche's hands were all cut up but they weren't bleeding. "Psyche—"

"I'm sorry; I'm sorry," Psyche choked out. "There was a noise…and Tsugaru checked it…and then… I should have been the one to check… I'm sorry…"

"Not your fault," I said, unable to think of any other response. I crouched beside him.

"I-I got Tsu out from under the pile but he's still not breathing, his heart's not beating and he's not getting better."

I drew my lips into a thin line. Well, that explained the cuts on Psyche's hands… He'd probably cut them trying to get Tsugaru out from under the pile. "So…he's dead too…" It was both a question and a statement.

Psyche laughed with a hitch. "Roppi-san, we're all gonna die; we're all gonna die…"

"Stop that," I snapped. I gripped his cut up hand and examined. "Psyche, these are deep."

"Not much left…"

"Psyche, why aren't you bleeding?"

"We'll all…"

"Psyche." I looked him in the eye. " _Snap out of it._ "

He bit his lip and choked back a sob. "…B-but…Roppi-san…"

" _What_?"

"Don't you get it?" His lip was quivering and his eyes were wide with terror. "Everyone's dying off; Tsu said it himself. We're all dying and we can't stop it—Sakuraya is dead and Virus is dead and—and _Deli_ is dead and _Tsu_ is dead _and Izaya is dead!_ " He let out a wail. "Izaya-san is dead too, I know it!" he cried. "He's dead and we're all gonna die too; he's dead; he's dead; daddy's _dead_ just like Deli and Tsu and the others!" He broke down into sobs.

I stared at him. Izaya…dead… Could that really be…?

A pink spark distracted me, coming from Psyche's headphones. I hastily ripped them from his head and threw them away from us, fearing they may cause his or our death somehow. He continued sobbing, and I watched as a crack appeared on his features, right on his cheek where his tears were flowing. Now, Psyche was human just like me, so it wasn't normal for his face to crack like that, as if it were made of plastic.

" _Psyche_ ," I spoke firmly. I gripped his chin and made him look at me. "Stay with me. Look at me. Look at me right now." He did, eyes overly watery as the tears kept spilling. His body was shaking with every sob. "Psyche, stop crying. Pull yourself together," I hissed. "You can't go, too."

He nodded, hiccupping as he tried to stop.

My brow furrowed as I watched his eyes. "What the shit, your eyes are glowing."

"M-my eyes?"

"Your eyes," I confirmed. "Just keep talking to me." I don't know if somehow I was finding I cared about Psyche, or if I was just scared to be alone… And admittedly, I didn't want to be alone…

"O-okay…"

"We need to forget about the others; just for now. We can mourn and whatever later. We can't be upset now." I moved Tsugaru away from Psyche so that Psyche could stand. I was on autopilot now. I didn't even think about what I was saying or doing.

"B-but…," he began to protest, but I shot him a look.

"Just listen to me," I said firmly, and he shut up. "Psyche, how were you created?"

He sniffed. "U-um, I—I think I used to…maybe I used to be—to be a r-robot?"

"That explains what's going on, then," I said curtly. "Get up. We're going to go out and wait for Tsuki." I watched as he tried to stand, then fell back onto his legs. Frowning, I held out my hand to him. He gripped my offering with a hand without body heat, and I yanked him to his feet. He fell into me at first, much to my irritation, but then he could stand on his own. "Come on."

"I—I'm coming…"

We headed out of the stage room; I didn't look back, but I'm sure Psyche did, one last time looking back at his good friend Tsugaru… If Delic wasn't the one he was closest to, then Tsugaru was. He just lost both of them on the same day, and I guess that would really hurt anyone… I sighed. Why did humans have to be made to be so weak?…

I was brought out of my thoughts when Psyche gripped my hand from behind just as we reached the main room. I looked back at him with vague irritation. His eyebrows were clinched together in fear, and his now-glowing pink eyes were wide and running out of tears to spill. "Roppi…"

"What is it, Psyche?" I asked irately. I lack empathy; sorry. In bad situations like this I sometimes end up even colder than normal.

"R-Roppi…" His glowing eyes were flickering. "…I don't want to die."

I gazed at him, unsure what to say. Psyche was afraid of death, wasn't he… He was probably terrified. I tried to make myself care and show it, but I couldn't. I opened my mouth to try and answer, but no words came out.

He shook his head, still staring. "I-I don't want to die, Roppi. I'm so scared…" His flickering eyes dimmed to their normal shade of pink, perhaps darker, and he collapsed.

"Psyche!" I yelped, but he was on his knees by the time I caught him by the arms. He slumped, head falling forward. "C'mon, no, now's not the time, you idiot…," I hissed, kneeling down in front of him and trying to sit him up. His head lolled backwards in response. I clenched my teeth in anger. " _Idiot!_ " I snapped. "You're not supposed to die, damn it! _Tsuki_ , where the hell are you?!" I bowed my head and bit my lip, suddenly wanting to cry. My hands gripped harder at Psyche's arms. "Please come soon, Tsuki…" _Please don't die…_

I didn't cry there. I gradually pulled myself together and eventually lifted my head to look at Psyche. I put my ear to his chest; there was no heartbeat. I gripped his chin and tilted his head to me; his eyes were open and dull, mouth parted ever so slightly. I shut his eyelids with my fingers, expression sobered, and I worked to lift him from the ground, bringing his arm around my shoulders to help me lift his limp body. I sat him on the white loveseat in the room, laying him across it and making sure he looked comfortable. Once I felt he looked like he was asleep, I stepped back and pulled out my cell phone to call Tsuki. He answered on the third ring with an awkward greeting, as always.

"Tsuki?" I asked, my voice softer than I intended.

"R-Roppi; hi…"

"Please tell me you know where you are…"

"I-I know where I am… Um… I-is something wrong…?"

"Everyone else is dead," I informed him in a strained voice. "You and I are the only ones still alive, Tsuki." I remembered thinking so many times that this was exactly what I wanted. I hated everyone, with the exception of Tsuki, so this seemed like paradise then… But right now…

"O-oh… Th-that's…"

"Yeah. Bad," I said shortly. "So please hurry up and get here…"

He paused. Maybe he noticed a new tone in my voice, or maybe he noticed the fact I had actually used the word 'please.' "O-of course, Roppi… I-I'll meet you out—outside the studio."

"Thank you…," I answered, and hung up. I bit my lip. My eyes travelled to Psyche, and I frowned. "Sorry for yelling and whatever, Psyche," I said to him. He obviously didn't answer. I stood there for a bit, then headed out the doors and walked down to where the road was to wait with general impatience.

You know, if anyone would have to survive with me in this lonely world, with everyone else gone…I would have wanted it to be Tsuki. My life had been even darker than it was now before I met him; he was my first real friend and the only one who was truly kind to me. He was probably the only good thing that Izaya had ever given me. If I hadn't met him back then, I'm sure I would be dead by now…

I waited for him for about fifteen minutes before I could see him wandering in my direction, the only thing moving that I could see all round. I forced myself to be calm about it and stopped leaning on the fence to start walking towards him. He was clutching at his scarf with one hand, at the strap of his bag with the other. He seemed to brighten a bit when he noticed me coming towards him, and I was soon in talking distance. I think I might have even been smiling at him, if ever so slightly. "Tsuki—"

"E-excuse me?…" he said to me eyes flickering with nervousness. "I…I think I'm lost."

I stared at him, any smile gone from my features. Those were the first words he spoke to me when he was created, and the first words he spoke to me when we met. "Tsuki, the studio's right over there," I said to him.

"S-studio? Wh-which studio?…"

My eyes searched his face. "Tsuki…you know who I am, right?" I hate saying it, but I was starting to get scared again.

He blinked at me. "U-um…"

"You don't know who I am…" My shoulders fell. This hurt.

"N-no…"

"Tsuki…it's me, Roppi; Izaya Hachimenroppi. Surely you remember me."

He shook his head. "I-I'm s-sorry…"

"We were just talking on your phone, Tsuki; that wasn't that long ago, how could you…?" I looked closer at him. I could see the sidewalk through my friend's body. "Tsuki…Tsuki, you're see-through." I shook my head. "Tsuki, come on, you've gotta remember." I gripped his wrist. "C'mon, you can't disappear."

"I-I'm…see-through?"

"Yes, yes, I can see my hand right beneath yours, see?" I tried to show him. He was fading before my very eyes, and I didn't know what to do. "No. No; Tsuki, c'mon. Remember, if you remember maybe this'll stop… Your name's Shizuo Tsukishima, remember? We met in the bad part of the city one day two years ago, I was an even worse person back then but you were lost; you were lost and you asked me for directions."

"I-I did?" he asked me. He was disappearing. No, this couldn't be happening…

"Yes, and I was going to hurt you; I was going to start a fight like I usually did back then but then I didn't because of the way you _were_ , and I led you out of the bad part of the city, don't you remember?"

He shook his head. He looked scared. I probably looked scared too.

"You came back just to find me and I tried to push you away; I tried walking away but you grabbed my wrist like this, and—" I tried to grab his wrist, but my hand went right through him. I cut off there and froze up. "No; you can't leave, Tsuki… You're all I have; please…"

"I…I don't understand…" he said, and I bowed my head, this time unable to stop myself from crying no matter how hard I bit my lip.

"You—you gave me something to hold on to… You're the one who made me think that maybe there is a better tomorrow…" Tears started to spill, and I didn't lift my head. "You're the best thing that ever happened to me; you can't leave now… Please; I don't want to be alone here… Please…" I choked back a sob, my whole being tensed up as I tried to stop crying.

There was a moment of silence; a pause. Then his barely-visible hand lifted my head by the chin, and his ghost-like image smiled. "I'm sorry I don't remember, but I bet…I bet you were the best thing that ever happened to me, too." I stared at him. He brought me into an embrace, and for once I didn't fight it. "I hope I meet you again…" I brought my arms around him to hug back, and he dissipated like that, as if he were just the ghost of a dream. I fell to my knees after that, and I cried. And I let myself cry. I wept, barely making a sound as the tears streamed down my face. I was the only one left in this rotten and empty world. With Tsuki gone, there was no point in living, was there?

I slumped forward. Surely I'd die next, right?… If it didn't happen soon, I might have taken my life myself… I wanted Tsuki back. I wanted _something_ , and without that something, I was bound to die too… My sight began to darken, and my eyes closed; I felt myself collapse as I slipped into the black…

…I woke up in a bed with black sheets; the walls around me were painted grey. I sat up and looked around. There was a bedside table to my right and barely anything else, other than a door on the right wall leading out into what seemed to be a nice apartment, far larger than my own. I felt my face; the tears were gone and I was still here, still alive. I looked at my arms, I was still wearing my black and red clothing. My breathing was shaky.

As I sat there, I heard footsteps and stiffened. I had no idea where I was, and I had no idea who it was I heard walking closer and closer to where I was.

A man entered the doorframe and froze; a man in a bartender's outfit, exactly like Tsuki. His hair was the same, blond though he was wearing blue sunglasses rather than normal spectacles. He stared at me, and I stared at him. My voice was soft as I spoke, and we each questioned the other in near-unison.

"Tsuki?…"

"…Izaya?"


	8. Chapter 8

_After Roppi had finished his long explanation, Shizuo shifted, pushing his sunglasses up on the bridge of his nose. They were sitting at a table in Izaya's apartment._

" _And that's all I know," Roppi spoke dully. "That's what you asked for, right?"_

" _Yeah…" Shizuo frowned._

" _So…can you explain to me what's going on, now? You said you'd tell your side after I told you everything."_

 _Shizuo nodded, drawing his lips into a thin line as he rubbed the back of his head. Tsuki used to do that, too. "Well…first of all, my name is Shizuo, not 'Shizu-chan.' I'm the guy Izaya apparently based a whole bunch of people off of…"_

 _Roppi looked at him. So he and Tsuki had had the same first names as the originals… "So you were his friend?" he asked, tone flat._

 _Shizuo looked at him, pausing. Then he averted his gaze. "…Nah, we weren't really friends…" He paused. "I, uh… I'm sorry about your friend, and everything else…"_

 _It was Roppi's turn to look away. "Yeah…whatever…" Another pause. "…What happened to Izaya?" Something had to have caused all that had happened. This was where he found out the cause…_

 _The blond looked at the ground, taking off his sunglasses and pinching the bridge of his nose. He didn't really want to talk about it, but he guessed he had to explain. "Izaya…," he began. "…Izaya…is dead."_

 _Roppi gazed at him with his red eyes. "So he's dead after all…" He looked to the ceiling._

 _Shizuo gave a grunt in confirmation. "When you were plummeting…that might have been when he shot himself."_

 _That's when the raven-haired boy stared. Izaya had fallen to suicide? Roppi could remember, back in his creation, that he had tried to pick apart who Izaya was… Roppi knew that there was some kind of emptiness beneath mask upon mask upon mask, but he'd figured he'd numbed himself to the point he wouldn't even consider something like suicide… And thinking about it now, those based off of Izaya… Virus couldn't die, Sakuraya didn't grasp death, and Psyche and Hibiya feared death (despite the fact Hibiya ended up taking his own life too). Did Izaya also fear it? But then there was Roppi – the suicidal, the one who would gladly take to death… Maybe that was why he survived…?_

 _Shizuo's hand was to the back of his head again, not making eye contact. "Izaya…he…" He sighed. "Shinra was the name of his…friend… And Celty is the headless woman. Shinra has known Izaya since middle school, but…I guess you wouldn't call them 'close'…" His head lowered slightly. "I guess you could say no one was exactly 'close' to Izaya… And I bet he wouldn't have let 'em close anyhow, but still… Damned flea."_

 _Roppi squinted. Flea, huh?_

" _He and I were actually the opposite of friends. We hated each other a lot. The moment I'd see his disgustingly smug face, I'd snap and try to kill him. Now that he's dead, I can say I bet I'd never actually kill the damned maggot." He clenched his teeth. "Agh… If he were alive right now I'd wring his stupid_ neck _for doing something so_ stupid _!" he abruptly stood and flung his fist into the nearest cupboard, shattering the wood._

 _Roppi watched._ Well shit.

 _Shizuo huffed, muttering an apology. "None of us really saw it coming… Me, Celty, Shinra…" He crossed his arms, still keeping his gaze away from Roppi. He didn't want to explain exactly what had happened, but he guessed he'd have to explain it eventually. "He stopped coming around for awhile, and I was happy with that. I hated him anyway, and he really pissed me off more than anything, since he's a shit. Hearing what you've said, I think you agree."_

 _Roppi nodded, and Shizuo sighed._

" _But I guess maybe there was more to the shit than being a shit…so he wasn't all smug smirks and manipulation and 'human love' and all that crap. There had to have been more… I guess he was lonely. He said something like that himself right before he…" He trailed off._

 _Roppi looked down in thought. "Considering what he gave me… When I was first created, I asked him for a reason to live. He didn't give me anything at first, but when I was ready to break down, he gave me…Tsuki." Roppi looked up again. "And he was reminiscent of…you." His eyes gazed off at nothing again. "Maybe…maybe deep down he actually wanted you to be his friend…or something."_

 _There was a pause, then a low kind of growl. Roppi turned to see Shizuo pinching the bridge of his nose. "I guess that doesn't matter now if he's dead," he uttered. Another pause. "I can't believe that damned flea ended up creating a whole different reality. What the fuck?"_

 _Roppi shrugged, and Shizuo gave a sharp sigh._

"… _Shinra and I were there when he did it," he said lowly. "He was still smiling that goddamned smile of his when he pulled the trigger. He was_ grinning _. We tried to stop him, but…"_

"… _But you couldn't do it," Roppi finished. "It was too fast, right? Nothing you could do."_

" _Except maybe not be such a shit to him before that."_

" _He was a shit to you, too," he reminded him. "And me."_

"…" _Shizuo silently agreed. "…Fucking maggot."_

" _Yep."_

" _He's a shit for doing something like that… Dying in a way that he probably_ knew _would make us feel guilty…" A beat, and the blond sighed again. "He didn't even die right away. Shinra checked him; he was still breathing…so we got him to the hospital…but he was brain dead and he only lasted a few more hours." Silence blanketed them again until Shizuo looked at Roppi again. "Now how the fuck did you end up here? Even if Izaya managed to make another reality…it's_ another reality _, not this one."_

 _Roppi shrugged. "Maybe it's because I was the part of him that got him killed."_

 _Shizuo stared. "…Maybe," he grunted, and looked away. "So you think you're going to stay in this world, or are you gonna randomly wink out and disappear?"_

 _He shrugged again. "I don't know. Currently, I don't care, either."_

" _Well…I guess, then, that means you're kinda replacing Izaya." Roppi gazed at him dully in response. "Well, not replace, but, uh, fill in where he disappeared."_

" _Isn't that kind of the same thing?" he asked flatly._

"… _Maybe." He hissed out a sigh. "Whatever. Well, maybe you could live here…"_

" _This is Izaya's apartment, right?" Shizuo nodded. "…So why were you in here in the first place?"_

 _Shizuo blinked at him. "Oh, uh… I really just came here to kind of think, I guess… I was just wandering around the city…and I guess I just…decided to come here. Maybe try and figure out why he did it. I dunno… But I found you here, so I'm glad I came." He rubbed the back of his head. "So…"_

" _Alright."_

 _Shizuo looked at him confusedly._

" _I can live here, I guess…" Roppi looked down. He hadn't exactly asked for a whole new life; he'd asked for Tsuki back. Oh well, he'd see soon enough whether he could tolerate this restart…_

"… _I guess…," Shizuo began, rubbing the back of his head again. Roppi looked at him. "…I guess all those people he made won't come back, will they?"_

" _I doubt it…," Roppi responded, gaze drifting. "I guess they're just…dead."_

" _Mm," he responded, bowing his head. "Er, sorry about all that…"_

" _Not your fault."_

 _Silence returned as their ever-faithful companion. Then, "…I…kinda want to show you Shinra and Celty." Shizuo shifted. "Not just to prove to myself I'm not crazy, but…just to let them know, and…and to show you all the new friends you got here in this world, alright?"_

 _Roppi blinked. "Well, alright…"_

 _Shizuo nodded and began walking; Roppi watched before standing up to follow._

 _Even though Izaya had died, here was another chance. Though it wasn't Izaya himself, it was the piece of him that partially caused his downfall. The piece that brought about his ending. And if that piece could live on now, then it meant all the difference. To Shizuo and to Shinra and Celty; to everyone of this world that had known Izaya, this was their chance to make amends for not trying to dig under Izaya's outer self before there was nothing left in the core, because there would always be that hideous guilt stirring their insides even though all of this was just what Izaya had created for himself. To them, a new Izaya had emerged, and they would likely do their best to save him. And to Roppi…to Roppi, this was a reset. Maybe his life had been rough before, and maybe he didn't want to leave behind his only friend, or all he had known…but here was a chance to have a better life where maybe, just maybe, he could find that thing called 'happiness.' Izaya, who had created his own suffering, lie in his grave, but the part of him that only wished for peace lived on. Perhaps there was still hope._

 _Despite everything, Roppi smiled a small, lopsided smile._


End file.
